St. Govan is an unknown legend; perhaps an Irish Monk, or Arthurian figure Sir Gawaine. The story posits that when fleeing from pirates, St.Govan found refuge in an enchanted cliffside which swallowed him whole. The impression of his body remained, creating the Chapel and Holy well–– today a mystical pilgrimage site in Pembrokeshire, Wales. 52 steps make up the steep descent to the Chapel; whatever hopes are in one’s mind when going up and down, if breathed lightly on the wind, will be granted.
St. Govan is an intimate, expanded drawing study of the interwoven connectivities between stone, bodies, new mythologies and environmental change. A practice of pigment hunting and St.Govan as allegory are employed to uncover places as spatial metaphor for temporal distance (Lippard) and the ways in which we are bound to this earth. How can the materiality of earth pigments help us to uncover hidden histories (real and imagined)–– can the stories that emerge aid us in forming more meaningful connections with place? The purpose of this project is to use immersive hanging pigment scrolls to bring to light these questions by way of the magical materiality of natural pigment.
Gathered from various ecological sites across Nova Scotia over the course of several years and many long walks is Rust, Slate, Mollusk Shell, Seaweed, Copper, Chalk, Ochre and Acorn Caps. These pigments are used to paint images from archaeological books and folkloric manuscripts. They are collaged and collapsed by material abstraction onto over-sized scrolls into new, tangible narratives. Pigment is painted and scraped away; excavated to reveal stories. The scroll implies something continuous: a surface for stories told and yet to be heard. The scale of the work necessitates broad gestures in its creation–– movements in the studio reflect upon the arc of a walk. Likewise, visitors tip toe around the work in a multifaceted perspective, avoiding the painted puddles while others crouch down to get a closer look. Their movements mimic the embodied actions of pigment hunting. St. Govan stems from a penchant towards the magical, a fascination with the stories of the earth, and a desire to nurture our relationship to the land.
