Original artwork description:

I like the idea of working with slate because of the age and nature of the material. Millions of years ago, movement of the Earth's crust, retreating seas and glaciation pushed mineral deposits collected on ancient sea beds to the Earth's surface where they were eventually quarried by man to provide shelter from the winds and rain.

The slate I use has served this purpose and is eroded and marked by exposure to the elements as well as by man-made pollutants in the atmosphere. I am interested in the journey from the seabed to the quarry, the quarry to the rooftop and the rooftop to the artwork.

In ‘Relic 1’, I have taken a single broken and discarded slate and washed away the grime collected over the years to reveal the natural texture, markings and colouring. Three screws fill the original holes from where it was attached to the roof and a circle, a universal shape at the heart of our relationship to the world, has been scratched into the surface with a sharp point. A smaller rectangular slate has been added to the original to stand as a monolith-like shape in an atmospheric landscape, though no narrative was intended.

The work is varnished to bring out the texture and then finished with a thin black wood edging, ready to hang. 34x50x2cm

Materials used:

Recycled roof slate

Tags: