16/12/23 – 2/3/24
In 2022, Roop was commissioned by the Burton to respond to the theme of the environment and climate change. The “Water Vessels – Sampling the Torridge” exhibition, is the culmination of the first stage of the project.
This project begins to tell a story about the geology, environment and ecology of River Torridge from its source in North West Devon to the estuarine mouth in Bideford. The story is told through a collection of ceramic vessels made and glazed from materials found in the water or by its banks.
The hot, dry summer of 2022 proved to be a tricky time to be sampling water from the river and so some of the initial ideas had to change in order to be able to collect some useable data.
The original idea was to use only water data, but timescale, resource and access issues meant that I began by mostly collecting material from the side of the river where I could more easily get permission to access the land for a short period.
Having collected material, I spent time in the workshop developing glazes and making forms inspired by my time walking and sampling. The show comprises of a combination of the final pieces made as a result of the exploration and also all of the tests and documentation of the exploration, sampling and experimentation that I did.
If you have a chance in the next month or so, do go and see the fantastic Louise Bourgois show that is in the main gallery and also take a chance to see this more locally inspired one too. For more background, check out a series of blog posts I wrote here.
