Fire and Water is a continuation of Kay Aplin’s investigation into micro-flora which has been the focus of her practice since 2013 and builds on her cross disciplinary collaboration with sound artist Joseph Young.
Kay used a digital microscope to magnify micro flora as the basis for her tile-based designs, whilst Joseph utilised binaural recording techniques to produce an immersive soundscape.
‘Fire’ refers to the woodfiring technique employed to fire the ceramics whilst ‘water’ references the site of a natural spring in Asturias, Spain, the source of the plants. Joseph recorded the sounds of the spring and an anagama firing at Kohila Woodfiring Symposium, Estonia, attended by both artists in 2017. The resulting soundscape accompanies Kay’s wall-mounted roundels of Asturian Flora in soda woodfired and oxidized porcelain.
Fire and water together with clay (earth) produces a mixed media experience that extends our understanding of form and texture in relation to landscape. The installation was presented at Collect 2019, Saatchi Gallery, London.
Fire and Water was created for Collect Open in 2019 in residence at Tolne Gæstgivergård, a wood fired installation responding to micro flora growing around the Victoria Spring in Borines, Asturias. The resulting installation included a two-channel sound piece by Joseph Young featuring the sounds of the spring and the anagama firing in which the ceramics were fired.
Collect 2019
Saatchi Gallery, London
Soda wood fired and oxidised porcelain
5m x 3.2m (total space)
Individual roundels:
Honewort Roundel 1.23m diameter
Toadflax Roundel 0.84m diameter
Milkwort Roundel 0.65m diameter
Hellibore Roundel 0.54m diameter
Moon Carrot Roundel 0.6m diameter
Tormentil Roundel 0.58m diameter
Irish Spurge Roundel 0.37m diameter
2019
Fuego y Agua
Aguas de Borines, Asturias, Spain
2022
Fuego y Agua is the second iteration of Kay Aplin’s collaborative work with Joseph Young, Fire & Water, created for Collect at the Saatchi Gallery, London in 2019.
Both artists documented the Victoria Spring, the source at Aguas de Borines, a former spa and currently a water bottling plant and brewery in Asturias, northern Spain. Kay collected plants growing around the spring and used a digital microscope to magnify the micro flora as the basis for her tile-based designs, whilst Joseph recorded the sounds of the spring utilising binaural recording techniques to produce an immersive soundscape. Joseph also recorded the sounds of an anagama firing at Kohila Woodfiring Symposium, Estonia, attended by both artists in 2017. The resulting soundscape accompanies Kay’s roundels of Asturian Flora in soda woodfired and oxidized porcelain.
The exhibition opened on the 130th anniversary of the founding of the spa as the culminating event in a day of celebrations at Aguas de Borines. The exhibition opened to great acclaim and was situated in the beautiful, unrenovated spa building. In addition Kay made table decorations of Asturian Flora roundels for the lunch which featured an identical menu to that served 130 years before. Finally, but not least, the brewery produced a special brew called 130 years which was “uncorked” on the opening day.
Towards the Light
Regency Town House, Hove
2022
Young Masters Prize
La Galleria, Royal Opera Arcade, Pall Mall, London
2019
Festival of High Temperatures
Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Arts, Wroclaw Poland
2019
