Rio Darwin
b. 2001, Yorkshire, Manchester
Rio Darwin is a visual artist based in the North-West who pushes the boundaries of clay as a sculptural medium. Rooted in the shifting landscapes of the Holderness Coast, Darwin's work speculates what it means to exist upon an everchanging landscape, sculpting works that honour the tension between vulnerability and resilience.
Darwin draws upon a phenomenological approach to the land to inform their sculptural practice. Known as the fastest eroding coast in Europe, Darwin’s home coastline is not only physically the edge of the land, socially and environmentally it is a place of deprivation, existing on the periphery of those upon stable land. Darwin’s practice is deeply connected to the isolation that exists upon such a turbulent, evolving landscape, sculpting works that feel organically familiar, yet strangely detached from time or place.
The Holderness Coast’s malleable cliffs are made of boulder clay, a brittle sediment that leaves them vulnerable and exposed. Darwin explores this notion through working with clay in an attempt to further connect with the very land that their hometown rests upon. During the making process, clay emerges as both a physical and conceptual medium, mirroring the unstable and impressionable qualities of coastal terrain; each contour, ridge and crack, a preservation of touch. Rio Darwin’s practice imagines ways in which coastal habitation may respond to changing environmental conditions and mutate into resilient versions of themselves.
Darwin draws upon a phenomenological approach to the land to inform their sculptural practice. Known as the fastest eroding coast in Europe, Darwin’s home coastline is not only physically the edge of the land, socially and environmentally it is a place of deprivation, existing on the periphery of those upon stable land. Darwin’s practice is deeply connected to the isolation that exists upon such a turbulent, evolving landscape, sculpting works that feel organically familiar, yet strangely detached from time or place.
The Holderness Coast’s malleable cliffs are made of boulder clay, a brittle sediment that leaves them vulnerable and exposed. Darwin explores this notion through working with clay in an attempt to further connect with the very land that their hometown rests upon. During the making process, clay emerges as both a physical and conceptual medium, mirroring the unstable and impressionable qualities of coastal terrain; each contour, ridge and crack, a preservation of touch. Rio Darwin’s practice imagines ways in which coastal habitation may respond to changing environmental conditions and mutate into resilient versions of themselves.
Email - riodarwin@outlook.com
Instagram - @_riodarwin