Ground Times. Dell Stewart 2013

Terracotta, porcelain, MDF table, sticks, stones, patchwork cotton, cushions, plants etc.

Ground Times is a gathering of functional handmade objects that suggest ritual and narrative. A bastard tea ceremony situated far from the formality of old Japan, the work rejoices in the fleeting nature of seasons and the complexity of social relations. Tea ceremonies are primarily temporal phenomena, social markers between before and after, facilitated through ancient but basic techniques of steeping plants in hot water. The objects themselves partake in this ritual, they relate not only to those who use them but to each other. 

Curated by Tai Snaith, at Linden as part of their Innovators program, The Cuckoo's Nest features work and collaborations from Kate & Jesse Tucker, Lucy James, Beci Orpin, Siri Hayes, Ellequa Martin and Dell Stewart.

In most bird species, the female builds and feathers the nest before laying her eggs. In the case of The Cuckoo, however, she simply lays her egg's in another bird's nest. This idea of hijacking someone else's space is in some ways similar to what we do as artists. We make personal objects, images and ideas and they often end up in someone else's home and life. In The Cuckoo's Nest a group of seven female artists will be treating Linden a little like a display home for a new way of living with art.