In October-December 2023, Kay Aplin and myself are artists-in-residence at the beautiful Watts Gallery in Surrey, the former home of George (GF) & Mary Watts, a celebrated Victorian artist couple. The Watts founded the artist village in 1891 – it comprises their former home Limnerlease which houses their studios, a separate purpose-built Gallery for the permanent collection and an extraordinary Chapel of Rest, created by Mary, covered with terracotta tiles and internally with gesso reliefs.

We are here as part of Edges, a curatorial project which we created exploring collaborative practice across the disciplines of ceramics and sound, working with artists in Ireland and Estonia. We have been exploring the archives, the surrounding landscape, the legacy of the Compton Pottery and my eye was particularly drawn to the grave of writer Aldous Huxley who is buried next to the Chapel in the graveyard there, along with the graves of George and Mary Watts. His book, Doors of Perception,  has provided a key into the fantsatical world of the Chapel for the sound piece that will be situated there as part of a planned geo-located soundtrail. The trail will be part of an exhibition of collaborative ceramic and sound practice here next Spring, showcasing the various residencies and partnerships that we have brokered across three nations and two disciplines.

This work follows on from our summer residency at Interface in the Inagh valley in Connemara, Ireland, where we investigated the landscape through walking, and where I collected many hours of field recordings of the hills, wildlife, coastline and bogs.

The final exhibition at Watts in Spring 2024 will be a transfer from Wexford Arts Centre in Ireland where we are collaborating with Irish curator and sound artist Richard Carr to produce a culminating show to what will be a 3 year long project. That show opens on February 17th, more news to follow about that soon…