Rooted in Cornwall: Art and China Clay at Wheal Martyn
Amy Cooper When I first wrote about Rooted in 2022, the exhibition was still showing at Wheal Martyn. Coming back to it a few years later, I realised that these images are worth keeping as a little record of the show in their own right. Rooted brought together artists and makers with very different approaches, but all responding in some way to Cornwall's china clay landscape, its materials, history and atmosphere. It was a fascinating idea then, and looking back at the work now, I think it still is. Rooted at Wheal Martyn Rooted ran at Wheal Martyn in the autumn of 2022 and brought together 17 makers rooted in Cornwall. Ceramics were at the heart of the exhibition, but there was also jewellery, photography, metal, film and other work. The starting point was the china clay industry and the extraordinary landscape it has created around St Austell. The artists responded to the material itself, the history of the industry, its effect on the land and the peopl...