Ash

The ethereal remnants of fire, ash is what is left after combustion: the result of an intense transformation. As a material, ash teaches us the intimate interplay between damage and nourishment, destruction and renewal. It is fertile and nutritive, providing enrichment for new growth. Cleansing, medicinal and ceremonial, ash symbolises the potential for healing and change.

The exhibition Ash lingers on processes of grief and healing that follow devastation. Here, feelings that are often compressed or put aside — despair, fatigue, alienation, melancholy, and mourning — are slowly unfurled and released. This exhibition rests inside heavy feelings, honouring them not only as embodied responses to the neglectful systems around us, but as vital resources in generating collective action, nourishment and hope.