Ivan Morison (b.1974) has established an ambitious practice that transcends the divisions between art, architecture, theatre and social practice, questioning what it means to be an artist in the 21st Century. His primary preoccupation has always been how we navigate catastrophe and the violence of change - from the wider collective view down to how individuals deal with moments of personal calamity.
Ivan is co-director of Studio Morison along with Heather Peak, an artist-led creative practice which supports and realises their ideas and the people they work with. Central to this work is the involvement with spaces of human coexistence and with the communities that occupy or may gather there. They categorise their work as a situated practice constructed from layers of social sculpture and sculptural space.
For Estuary 2025, Ivan will present the project Sea Like a Mirror from the collaborative practice of Heather Peak and Ivan Morison, in Gravesend. At the heart of the project is a new artwork, White Horses, commissioned to mark the 200th anniversary of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), and inspired by the profound legacy of RNLI's life-saving work and the special status its volunteer crews occupy in the collective consciousness of our island nation.
Produced through a series of visits to lifeboat stations and seaside towns around the coastline, and in close collaboration with those who hold a deep connection to the water, including oyster fishers, windfarm technicians, wild swimmers, the work explores the sea’s innate duality as a place of wonder and peril, and the myriad roles it plays for coastal communities.
This travelling work, housed within a unique, custom-made sculptural tent will be installed on the seafront, immersing audiences in the stories of RNLI crew and local people from around our coastline. Within this structure, Ivan’s new work, White Horses, will be screened using 16mm projection and accompanied by live music from local musicians, presenting a multifaceted portrait of the sea and the nation's coastal towns, bringing together six diverse locations, each linked by the lifeboat station at the centre of their community.
peakmorison.org
@morison_studio
Sea Like a Mirror is a partnership project led by Cement Fields, with Art Gene, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, North East Lincolnshire Council & East Marsh United, and Super Culture. Delivered in collaboration with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and supported with public funding from Arts Council England. Presented in Gravesend for Estuary 2025 with Estuary Festival.
Image credit: Ivan Morison - Photo by Sam Wainwright
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