Messums is pleased to announce the lineup for the inaugural Sculpture in the Sands exhibition on the beach at Lowestoft. In collaboration with the First Light Festival, taking place on 21-22 June, Messums will unveil three artworks which, together, respond to the festival’s theme for 2025: ‘from the seabed to the sky’, and explore temporality in art. All three of these works will be unveiled on Lowestoft Beach on 21 June – the most easterly point of the UK – as part of a celebration of midsummer and the longest night of the year.
Continuing his ongoing relationship with the community in Lowestoft, sculptor Laurence Edwards will contribute Shimmer (2022), inspired by the dynamic interaction of sunlight light with the crest of a wave. Cast in bronze, this piece is infinitely re-mouldable yet can remain unchanged for milennia. Based in Suffolk, Edwards was the first artist to present their work on Lowestoft Beach, with his Large Chthonic Head (2023) and Walking Men series (2018-22) drawing an international audience of over 30,000 people.
The second artwork is the result of an open call to artists, sponsored by the Messums Creative Foundation. The brief was to propose plans for a large, site-specific, ephemeral sculpture created using non-hydrocarbon-based materials, challenging artists to think differently about the use of materials in their individual practices, and encouraging the viewer to consider the beauty and value in ephemeral art. The open call began in January of this year with a three-week window to allow artists to submit their proposals. In that time, we received almost 200 entries from around the world by artists working in an array of different materials.
The artist selected is Zena Holloway, a self-taught artist, maker, researcher, and the founder of Rootfull. She cultivates textile by guiding plant root as it grows, with templates that are intricately carved from beeswax. The process uses only organic and locally sourced materials; any excess shoot or seed is repurposed as animal fodder, leaving no waste behind.
Holloway’s West London studio is a grow-space and workshop where she innovates and explores the extensive capabilities of root. Through contemporary craft, innovation and invention, she bio-designs memorable artefacts that utilise material intelligence and promote regenerative design. Her proposal comprises an ambitious project to grow three large-scale works from grass root for installation first in the 13th century tithe barn at Messums West, and then for the First Light Festival on Lowestoft beach. The three pieces will range in size from 2m to 4m in height. She will use natural madder dye for colour and willow basketry for supports with jute rope used to suspend the sculptures. Every part of the three constructions will eventually decay and return to the earth.
Alongside the two sculptures, there will be a new performance piece by Colin Riley and Nic Pendlebury of Sonic Compositions. Their collaborative composition, Ocean Sounds, will blend live instruments with backing tracks incorporating the sounds of the oceans. Around 80% of our oceans remain unexplored; this piece will use sound to transport the listener through some of the most remote areas on Earth. The performance will feature a mix of contemporary electric instruments (e.g. keyboards), Western classical instruments (e.g. bowed strings), voice/s and indigenous instruments, involving artists who work across boundaries of genres and artforms. Sonic Compositions will be performing at dawn on Sunday 22 June.
Photo: Darren Kirby
