I have been selected as one of four artists for a residency with the UNESCO Riviera Geopark in Torbay.
My residency with the title ‘Cultural Entanglements in Marine Environments’ began in August and continues until the Spring of 2025, with a focused studio period in situ at the Artizan Gallery in Torquay.
I will be exploring the human impact and reliance on marine biodiversity, through the lens of communities and environments of the English Riviera UNESCO Global Geopark. The resultant residency art series will evolve through local conversations and observations, creating mixed media “entanglements” combining reclaimed, “natural” and human processed materials.
The Geopark designation offers a unique canvas, drawing together a geography that includes Marine Conservation Zones with their precious seagrass beds, that must share space with a fishing heritage that includes one of the largest fisheries in the country, a leisure industry, and local residents, all reliant on these same natural resources. All of this against a backdrop of UN Sustainable Development Goals that the world as a whole struggles to achieve, and a global ecosystem dependent on local conservation.
My studio will be open to the public at times during the week and weekend between the 16th of September and the 13th of October, with two “in conversation” events in the gallery on the 5th and the 13th of October and an open evening.
To follow what I am doing and find out more about the ope studio and events please visit my instagram on gillmelling.creative.