I became fascinated with the changing landscape of a site which I would often walk by, near to where I used to live.
The land was being developed by the West Essex golf club to become an extension to their course.
Tons of earth had been moved to the site and more excavated in the process of digging a lake. A mountain of mud rose up from the footpath and seemed surreal in its largeness and blankness.
I came across the mud mountain on a December evening and felt a desire to climb to its summit. As I trudged upwards I noticed objects sprouting like spring shoots above the thick mud.
Lorries were transporting hardcore rubble to the site. I decided I wanted to collect the items in the mud, but I wanted to do it systematically. I set myself rules; I must come each day for five days, I must take only five things each day, I must log and clean the objects and upload my progress each day online. At the end of the five days I intended to create a sculptural piece with the objects. Instead I decided to process clay I'd found on the site.
Image of the site - the landscape feels alien and enormous 2020
A photograph of the site before the work began 2017
The man-made lake 2020
I found gravestones in the hard-core rubble transported to the site to create the man-made hills 2020
I collected objects that had been buried in the mud each day 2020
The objects washed and arranged on the table in the living room 2021
Processing the clay at home using a buckets, a lampshade, bedding and a sieve 2021
