Simon Page
Gower Suite
Commissioned for the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Wales Coast Path. On show at The Swansea Waterfront, National Museums of Wales, September 2022 - February 2023, and then at The Norwegian Church, Cardiff, March 1st - March 27th, 2023. 'Into Gwyr' is a short film accompanying the project with poet Natalie Holborow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANTUCgPkICE
Artists statement accompanying the exhibition:
'I was attracted to the idea of a coast path occupying a particular space, one that inevitably leads to thoughts about the relationship between the land and sea as well as the changing space that exists on the edge of both.
I was also drawn to thoughts of the lone walker and how their journey is often a meditation of sorts, fed by inward reflection and external observation, with the rhythm of the physical process of walking, like breathing, keeping the present close by. This led me to consider that a walk isn’t just about going through a landscape but also the possibility of becoming part of that physical space, momentarily co-existing as one entity, one consciousness.
The work started with a set of sketches I made around Rhossili and the Three Cliffs Bay area - the rhythms within the landscape features of fern/sand/hill/stream/footpaths, the patterns of the countless footprints in the dunes, and the people walking through all made strong motifs that I kept coming back to.'