TURNING TIDE exhibition

 I am looking forward to the Turning Tide exhibition at The Dovecote studio, Snape Maltings. In association with Britten Pears Arts and Devi Singh.

Hosted by Internationally-renowned and prestigious Snape Maltings Concert Hall, this exhibition takes place in the unique Dovecote Studio and is a collaboration between Britten Pears Arts and Devi Singh

Turning Tide is a reflective body of sculptural works that symbolise the artist’s journey and connection to place and environment, and is his first solo exhibition at this major International institution. 

Emanating from nature, Hardy’s gnarled, ethereal figures, exquisitely carved from sea-worn-wood, not only alert us to this decaying, wastefully discarded material but also hold an echo of our own human fragility. This feeling of belonging, identity and place became very relevant to the artist during the last year of lockdowns.

Hardy sees his work as “Reflecting the movement of cultures across the seas, whether though active migration or displacement. The wood washed up on our shores is a metaphor for this. Many woods not being native to our shores have been on quite a journey to arrive. Each with a story to tell.”

"The element that separates good art from the mere decorative is that intangible,  transformative quality. It’s hard to put you finger on exactly what this is but I do know that it emerges from seeing, or should I say experiencing, a great exhibition a richer person than before you entered and much of this transformation is that you now look at the world around you through a different prism. 

Roger’s work has this effect on me. His haunting figures, mere suggestions of human forms, are timeless. They evoke the biblical era and yet have the modernity of a Henry Moore. Drift wood caught on the oceans currents, smoothed by decades of natures sanding transforming into a scene of a present day migrant floating optimistically towards a better life with nothing to his name but the shirt on his back".

Vanessa Branson 2021. Writer and founder of the Marrakech Biennale

“Roger Hardy is one of the lucky sculptors who seems to live and work in his perfect environment, he has stated wisely that the answer always lies in nature and in this work we see the dialogue between the natural world and Hardy’s studio. To-ing and fro-ing, drawing on ancient themes and dealing with contemporary mores. Hardy’s work feels personal, he is processing his life and times through his natural medium. And still, he leaves room for us to see our own story within his telling. Roger Hardy has a wonderful sustainable modus operandi all he needs are big skies and plenty of driftwood in the mud. All power to him”.

Nicola Hicks 2021