Work Screen Based Sea Change
In 2005 I was artist in residence on a Russian Icebreaker in the Arctic Ocean. When I returned to Scotland I began to experiment with time-lapse film and melting ice in various forms.
I found the experience of travelling in the Arctic dizzying. I was awestruck at the wild beauty of the place. I had a sense of wanting to do this justice so found it difficult to make any work at all when I got home. I eventually reeled in my attention to consider ice on a domestic scale. I began to freeze various materials which I filmed as they de-frosted.
One of these works is Sea Change. A globe of ice melts into a wine glass etched with a delicate botanical pattern. Quietly meditative and deliberately pared down, this 'still life' suggests the looping of climate cycles and physical states that underpin life on earth and the relative fragility of human culture. A version of this piece won the Nancy Graham Memorial Prize at the Visual Arts Scotland Contemporary Art Open in 2009.
Sea Change from Nicola Murray