Joya: AiR / Hugh Greasley / UK
photo Simon Beckmann
Joya: AiR / Hugh Greasley / UK
“I was inspired by the extraordinary landscape and supported by the care and sensitivity of Simon and Donna - and the amazing company of fellow artists.
I found the landscape by walking, looking at how humans and non-humans, subjects and environments, are interconnected, moving through the erosion gullies, the high limestone ridges and burning white clay roads. I found the path of a soaring vulture along the rocky back of a hill, the smell of clay dust mixed with rosemary and thyme and watched the slow waxing of the moon. I recorded the sound of a nightingale singing in an almond grove at dawn and listened to wild boar quietly conversing in the garden in the small hours while they ate fallen olives.
Clay is everywhere in the landscape and I prospected it, explored its unique property of every clay and fired it - using it to record the devastating beetle tracks in pine bark, something that was changing the entire landscape. It was a joy to collect clay in the morning, dry process it, cast it, dry it and fire it the next day. The pleasure in finding a deep red clay by a roadside was enormous. I was intrigued by unfired clay and cast it into the shapes of ibex horns and mouflon skulls - experimenting with repetition and multiples. I used the casts in performances, where performers broke the casts by walking over them on the floor of an ancient farmyard. I documented how the shattered casts dissolved in rain, returning to the soil, leaving only a digital trace in the world”.
Hugh Greasley
Hugh Greasley is a sculptor and poet, inspired by nature and the landscape, whose sculptural practice explores the ephemeral - the traces of things, the unnamed. His practice is one of walking/writing/making, that produces sculpture, poetry, film, ceramics, prints and drawings. His education is in science and this permeates many aspects of his practice.
He has a degree in chemical engineering from Bath University, trained and worked as an electronic engineer and graduated in 2025 from the Royal College of Art with an MA in sculpture.
