'The call of the sea' Exhibition - a-n The Artists Information Company

Venue: No 6 Gallery : Oriel 6
Starts: Monday, August 7, 2023
Ends: Saturday, September 9, 2023
Address: 6 Church Street, Llantwit Major, Vale of Glamorgan, CF61 1SB
Location: Wales
Organiser: Nick Davies Curator of the No 6 Gallery : Oriel 6

‘The call of the sea’ is a poem created by writer, Kath Giblin, as part of the ‘Wild Seas’ project with the Llantwit Major Writing Circle that contributed to ‘These 3 Streams’ Arts Festival in 2022.

The words seemed to be an apt title for this current exhibition that explores the human experience of sea swimming; observing the ebb and flow of tides, and capturing the interconnection with nature’s seasons and cycles.

The artistic responses that include experiential tidal paintings, hand built ceramic vessels, and paper cut designs inspired by wave patterns, unite collaboratively to acknowledge a sense of exhilaration and contemplation that form a connection with natural phenomena and our ever changing environment.

Nicola Davies

After having an extensive career working in the media industry, Nick has spent the past ten years developing her own portfolio of images relating to the landscape, with specific reference to the coastline. During continued study at Masters level (2013-2015), she had the freedom to push personal boundaries with experimentation in printmaking (lino embossing), photography, film and sculptural techniques (plaster casting/carving) which led to a fascination with circles and ovoids found within natural phenomena. Nick’s arts practice is informed by nature and therefore it is her aim to look at reintegrating nature into art through capturing the energy and rhythm of the natural world. Nature has been a fascination for artists for hundreds of years and has the capacity to evoke thought and emotion. Inspired by the landscape, her coastal environment is fundamental to her practice as a visual artist. By stepping outside into nature, she allows herself to become open to contemplation through contact with natural phenomena. Constructed clay forms inspired from organic shapes, or found natural objects (pebbles/rock strata) that are cast with plaster, have focussed her attention to looking at the more physical aspects of fragility and strength in the natural world. During an arts and wellbeing project in 2019, Nick’s readings led her to the subject of ‘hag stones’ (stones with holes) and the spiritual beliefs associated with mystical stones possessing healing properties and used as protective talismans. Other myths acknowledge the presence of other worlds becoming visible through the natural occurring burrowed circles. This has inspired further research with documented theories relating to ‘psychogeographical’ sites, where larger holed stones were used as part of healing ceremonies, The concept of exploring view points seen through a cylindrical aperture of an ancient holed stone has captured her imagination and in turn has raised a curiosity of how geology, archeology, spiritualism and art are interconnected.