Exploring rivers, seas and the land between
An exploration of human relationships to rivers, seas, and the land at their edges is captured in an art and photography exhibition.
Corinna Wagner is professor of creative and visual arts at the University of Exeter, UK. Her exhibition TerraOceanus depicts ruination and recovery of sites in the UK and North America.
Captured scenes range from collapsed piers and derelict coastal buildings to glacier tourism spots and lakeside properties.
"Even in the most ravaged places, biodiversity recovery is possible when humans stand back, when ruins are allowed rebirth.”
She said, “This is a culmination of five years of travel, writing and collaboration with other artists and academics on issues around environment, climate, ruins, memory and loss.
“My work speaks of ‘solastalgia’ - sadness and anxiety about environmental damage to homes, land, rivers and seas. People across the globe are experiencing psychological and social effects – as well as the material realities – of rising sea levels, melting glaciers, drought and fire.
“But crucially, this artwork also speaks about possibility. There are rewilded and resurrected landscapes here.
"Even in the most ravaged places, biodiversity recovery is possible when humans stand back, when ruins are allowed rebirth.”
Professor Wagner’s art reflects sustainability and renewability. She works with plant-based materials, processes images in seawater and sand, uses natural beeswax and paints with oils made from reclaimed waste.
TerraOceanus has grown out of coastline art project Time & Tide Bell, also showcased at the exhibition. Supported by UK Climate Resilience Programme and Natural Environment Research Council, it runs at the Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Devon until 12 August 2023.
Supporting events include a screening of the film COTIDAL by Devon artist Tania Kovats, which asks the question “what do we see when we see the sea?”
“My hope is that people will be inspired to reflect deeply about how we occupy space now and how we might in the future,” adds Professor Wagner. “I hope that the artwork might encourage people to see the importance of in-between spaces, of abandoned things, edgelands and wild places.”
