LODE tells the story of a self-directed residency Watery Ways/Bleak Place that took place in 2022.
Artist and Near Now Studio member Chris Wright travelled by narrowboat in a giant loop going south from the River Soar to the River Thames then following it north up to the Oxford Canal and home, letting her curiosity run free.
Through the residency, Chris wanted to understand all facets of water from rivers to puddles as well as exploring the hinterland, from an artist's perspective. Bleak Place came from current world affairs such as the invasion of Ukraine which weighed heavily.
In Broadway Gallery, Chris will bring all the elements of that journey together, linking the science of water pollution and global water issues to the natural history of the river banks. The diverse elements include drawing, sound, film, photography which together create a journey map.
Open Studio Days
Drop in to meet the artist and view their work on:
Saturday 8 April, 12:00PM–6:00PM
Saturday 15 April, 12:00–6:00PM
Want to visit on a different day? All other dates from 1–14 April are by appointment only. Please contact Chris Wright directly to organise a visit.
About the artist
Chris Wright is an interdisciplinary artist, researcher and writer exhibiting nationally and internationally, primarily using sound, sculpture, drawing, film and live art.
Chris creates work that is visually exciting, aurally exploratory, environmentally aware and with meaningful socio-political engagement. Her aim is to push the boundaries of the sound, time, space, self-discourse that she is developing through the use of sound-songs, humming, experimental instrumental and ways as yet unknown. Her concerns are borders and transitional spaces, political and social engagement, materials and process. These are explored through a variety of media such as sound, photography, film, installation, and sculpture, often in a site-specific context.
References include artists Ronan Ondàk, Francis Alÿs and Katie Patterson, philosophers Heidegger, Foucault and Barad and theorists such as Lefebvre. Chris has sailed paper boats down the Mekong River to look at borderlines; blown across a bottle top in Norway; recorded 60,000 bees in Birmingham and hummed in a crypt in Sardinia. She also develops peer critique networks, collaborations and communal ways of working including remote-working tools as a means of artistic input.