Confluences
“I am a wild swimmer, and regularly swim in the Tyne in Northumberland. When I’m swimming I feel present and connected to nature. It is so important that we protect our rivers, making sure they are kept clean and accessible for the public and wildlife. In my sculpture for Confluences I used clay collected from the Tyne River bank in Walker and Wylam. I reflected on the message the River Tyne clay would be holding. The clay takes the form of an Oyster Catcher, a bird often spotted along the Tyne and which often fly over my head when I swim. The symbols stamped on to it’s surface represent the variety of animals and plants that live in the river and that over time would be broken down and turned into the clay. Out of it’s mouth is a woodblock print made using foraged wood and home made inks. The plinth is Colombian pine rescued from Devlyn Quay in Jarrow. The Quay had been set alight by vandals around the Year 2000 and was around 90 years old then.”
Exhibition dates: 23rd March – 13th April 2024
Monday – Saturday 9am – 5pm in the Gallery and The Show Case at Newcastle Arts Centre.
Featuring Christie Chan, Aidan Doyle, Ellen Harrold, Maura Hawkes, David de la Haye, Hazel Soper, Sue Spence
Curated by Helen Underhill and Cat Button
‘Water and People’ is a group exhibition exploring our ways of seeing, experiencing, and relating to water. Through painting, sculpture, poetry, sound, and embroidery, the artists explore how we communicate about water, and whose voices are heard in conversations around water security, river health, and climate change.
Alongside artwork flowing from the River Tyne and the North East of England, we present creative outputs from community-focused research from the UKRI GCRF Water Security and Sustainable Development Hub by our partners in Colombia, Ethiopia, India, and Malaysia.
The exhibition is accompanied by ‘Confluences’ – a creative workshop programme bringing people together to discuss the material, social, cultural, and political aspects of our relationships with water.
Supported by the UKRI GCRF Water Security and Sustainable Development Hub and Newcastle University.
