Amy Stephens: Persistence of Land

About

In 2023, Stephens spent time photographing a marble quarry in Carrara, Italy, where she was struck by the giant off-cuts discarded at the base of the excavation. In a series of works arising from this trip, there is an aesthetic allure that sits mindfully against environmental brutality. The exhibition includes nine repeated images taken from a vantage point at the top of Michelangelo’s quarry in Carrara. The photographic stills have a serenity that is in contrast to the constant noise and vibration of the worksite. Overlaid colourful geometric forms reference the molecular structure of calcium carbonate that gives character to the most hallowed of metamorphic rocks. In Persistence of Land, nearly one tonne of surplus rock rests on the gallery floor. The longest side shows the physical marks made by the diamond wire saw used in the quarry. When singled out, its appearance takes on a remarkable quality; pitted with white calcite crystals and veins formed by crystallised minerals, the geology of pure limestone, or the archetype of white Carrara marble. One vertex of the rock is cast in bronze and highly polished so that it glistens. Through casting a found object, there is a continuation of natural form that raises questions surrounding context and artistic intention. Highlighting the geology of the marble, which has been silently forming over millennia, and man’s endeavour to hew the rock from the earth, the object takes on new meaning in the gallery as we consider the work's aesthetic merit and the material's artistic legacy. Rocks and minerals have an inherent narrative and an association with form. The abundance of any material can cause invisibility and therefore nature is often largely overlooked. Stephens’ work asks the viewer to be attentive to what is happening beneath the surface, our impact upon the natural world and how we appropriate it for our own purpose.