'Alaria' by Eiko Soga, Esther Teichmann, & Miriam Austin

About

Alaria brings together new work by Eiko Soga, Esther Teichmann, and Miriam Austin, each offering sensual and imaginative engagements with landscapes shaped by water: island, swamp, and fen. The succession of seasons, the growth of a foetus, the skin of an eel, the overhang of a branch, and the play of light on water – these are some of the gestures that bind the artworks together and might also tempt us away from the destructive binaries of human/nonhuman, natural/artificial.

The private view will be on Thursday 1st May from 6 to 8pm and the exhibition runs from 28th April to the 24th May 2025.

The artworks in the exhibition are grounded in the lived and embodied experience of specific environments, from the swamps of the Black Forest in Germany where Esther Teichmann grew up, to the island of Hokkaido, Japan, where Eiko Soga has worked since 2016 in dialogue with indigenous Ainu elders, to the course of the River Great Ouse, which runs through the drained wetlands of Eastern England, site of Miriam Austin’s recent research and home to generations of her family.

Grounded in these contexts, the works in Alaria lead us into a brackish entanglement with the more-than-human and the hyper-natural. The title of the show refers to the genus of kelp that includes Alaria esculenta, a species particularly vulnerable to climate change.  Widely eaten, it is also known as Atlantic Wakame, Badderlocks, or Láracha. Within the show food, wetlands and bodies combine in sculpture, installation, photography and video by three artists concerned with the lived experience of the landscape, the body as a site of knowledge production. A concern with narrative leads us to reflect on the imaginative space of nature: how this can be a place of resistance in a time of extractive industry and the politics of exclusion – how listening, looking, tasting and feeling create kinship relations that trouble the human/nonhuman binary.

The exhibition is open to the public on Saturdays from 10am to 4pm and by appointment.

To make an appointment, please email info@geraldmooregallery.org or call 02088570448.

-----

The Gerald Moore Gallery is a centre for modern and contemporary art with learning at its heart. Opened in April 2012, in Mottingham, the gallery is uniquely set within the grounds of Eltham College and is a valuable resource for the students and the local community. The gallery has gained momentum hosting some exciting exhibitions including works by Matisse, Louise Bourgeois, and Cornelia Parker, whilst supporting emerging local artists. In unison with the exhibitions, the gallery's outreach programme works with local community groups, teachers, and schools, creating lasting relationships with our locality. Gerald Moore Gallery was made possible with the foresight and generosity of Old Elthamian, Dr Gerald Moore, many of whose works are archived at the gallery and who has a permanent exhibition on display.