Photo: CC Aerial Solutions
Hope & Renewal...
On Friday 28 October 2016, a huge fire destroyed historic buildings on Exeter Cathedral Green. This was a tragedy. Yet after tragedy something always emerges. The circle of life continues.
Inspired by this, I took over a tonne of burnt wood, salvaged from that fire, to create the 4.5-metre sculpture Hope & Renewal. Some of these timbers came from trees that grew in the 1500s. It was unsettling to use materials created by destruction. Yet also wonderful to re-use something that would have been thrown away.
Hope & Renewal toured and was sited outside Exeter Cathedral, Powderham Castle and Teignmouth Lighthouse. On viewing the structure, some were reminded of a phoenix, some of a wing, others of an organic form, reaching for the sky. Some found it relevant to what was going on in their own lives; others saw it reflecting issues in the wider world.
Photo: The Devon & Exeter Institution
Hope & Renewal: BBC Spotlight
BBC Spotlight feature with Morth (Martin Staniforth)
Exploring the theme of Hope & Renewal through Creative Wellbeing Workshops.
Art can fulfill several roles and provide many ways for different people to engage with it. Supported by the Devon Community Foundation, I led Creative Wellbeing Workshops with clients of charities Headway Devon, SAFE (Stop Abuse For Everyone) and CoLab, to explore how this theme might resonate in a 'useful' way with clients who had experienced various kinds of setbacks and challenges. At first I was a little nervous about leading these workshops. However, helped by the charities' support workers, we saw how many participants were keen to get stuck in to the workshops. Indeed they were hopeful for further opportunities to explore self-expression and outreach to other communities.
Hope & Renewal by Teignmouth Lighthouse
Hope & Renewal evolved into the multi-platform Resurgo creative project