Whilst in the middle of installing the works in the gallery, there have been some delightful moments – not least that yet again my hands are getting covered in this messy stuff. There’s something very grounding about having earth pigment on your skin. I recall an artist telling me that when she was tired and stressed and her brain was running too fast, she liked to bury her hands in the earth. To slow herself down. To anchor her.
I can’t help wondering how all the artists commissioned for this project relate to that thought – they are all so different – but maybe it is a haptic thing we can’t escape from. We somehow hold an understanding in our bodies of what our landscape shares with us. It could be a good post-launch conversation in the pub.
In the meantime, better get back to the gallery, and hope to see you Saturday. The exhibition opens at 2pm 3rd October at Burton Art Gallery & Museum in Bideford.
Watch the trailer to get some glimpses of the bigger show – and the wonderful 30minute documentary made by Liberty Smith.
See you there.
Carolyn Black 