MINERAL

Mud squishing between my bare toes. Scouring the Transkei beach for seashells. Coming back from the desert with pocketfuls of rocks and crystals. These are some of my favourite childhood memories.

When humans are communing with Nature we’re most often drawn to the splendour of the living world around us; the plants and the animals. Being attentive to that which is not biologically alive is rarely our first response. And yet - once we’ve been outside for a while - we start to acknowledge the mineral kingdom more and more. The enormous presence of the Mountain. The water trickling from crevices in the cliff face. The boulder marking time and space in the valley. The inexplicable and intricate markings on the pebble. The contrast between the outside and the inside of the whelk. The smell of the soil in the forest. The frailty of the lacy, decaying leaf as it turns to dust between your fingers. 

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Beyond collecting mineral treasures for almost five decades, tactile experience is an integral part of who I am. I don’t shy away from getting my hands dirty; I delight in reading the surface of an object like braille. Honestly - if art galleries and museums have secret no-fly lists of people who want to touch things I’m on all those lists! 

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This tactile journey has brought me back to sculpture. YES! During 2024 I will be bringing together found objects and clay to tell stories of the sacred essence of things.

I look forward to sharing parts of the process, and ultimately the complete series.