Ivan Morison: Towards the Weird Heart of Things

Sculpture Park Commission by Ivan Morison

The Sainsbury Centre, in collaboration with Orleans House Gallery, presents The Reapers, a new site-specific series of sculptures by artist Ivan Morison, created in response to the curatorial theme, Why Do We Take Drugs?

The Reapers features three sculptures made from East Anglia’s seasonal agricultural materials: hemp, straw, beans, and tomatoes. Sourced from local harvests and combined with hay and coppiced timber from the Sculpture Park, this matter has been shaped into deteriorated haystack-like forms. Standing over four metres high, these temporal sculptures will change in colour, transform, grow, decay, and eventually compost over time, challenging the conventional idea of permanence in sculpture.

The works are an outcome of the artist’s research residency Towards the Weird Heart of Things at The Sainsbury Centre, that looked at the parallels between artists and farmers, searching out farmers operating at the radical edge of agriculture today. Engaging local farming communities, the works prompt a reassessment of our connection to the natural world. They cast light on the agricultural sector’s reliance on drugs and pesticides, inviting contemplation on sustainability and regenerative farming practices that nourish soil and spirit.

At the heart of this commission is an ‘eco-wakening’ – to inspire hope and point us to the fact that the fatal risk of anthropogenic climate change can be avoided if we collectively focus on taking climate action and finding innovative solutions.

Reflecting on the commission, Ivan Morison said:

“In gaming circles Reapers are a synthetic-organic alien race, connecting us to the fear we share of the mutant monsters sure to come from human techno meddling in plant biology.

The literal meaning of ‘reapers’ is someone, usually a farmer, who harvests crops, apt for the material the works are made from, and as portraits of the punk spirit of the farmers I have met and drawn. These are portraits of revolutionary pioneers at the new frontier.

And of course, ‘reapers’ also has a darker, religious and horror infused undertone, and these dark angels do loom somewhat in the landscape, reminding us of a future we hope to avoid.”

Towards the Weird Heart of Things is co-commissioned by Orleans House Gallery and will travel there in March, for their Cultural Reforesting strand of programming, which invites artists to explore the question: How do we renew our relationship with nature?

Ivan Morison: Towards the Weird Heart of Things is part of a six-month season of interlinked exhibitions and events that explore the question Why Do We Take Drugs?