Time Unfolding Exhibition
As our global environment collapses under human influence, water holds the key to the past and future of all forms of life.
A moment in time frozen in stone
Alabaster is a soft, calcium-based rock formed from water. Returning it to flowing water creates visible erosion within days: a geological process on a human timescale.
Using the long-standing human religious and cultural symbolism of the shell, flowing water and alabaster come together to create these transient forms.
The journey from upright shell - a human construct - to eroded rock marks a path of disintegration and resurrection. The particles of rock from these sculptures are now returning to their origin in the sea: a geological cycle on a geological timescale over which we have no influence.
A moment in sound frozen in time
Alabaster is embedded in spiritual experience, richly complemented by music. It has become a recipient of music in the liturgical tradition. Here alabaster is also a maker of music, returning sound to the experience of worshippers within Worcester Cathedral.
When struck, the momentary musical note emitted from the sound sculptures symbolises the echo of life still held in the stone long after we are gone.
