Artist Statement
With the continued demand for refined mineral resources, Earth’s geological matter is increasingly mis-understood as a mere substance, which is ascribed value only through its conversion into an economic product, particularly products associated with technology. My practice in digital photography and print considers our Earth’s natural power to transform such matter through time.
I see my work exploring contemporary narratives, for example the negative environmental and social impacts of sourcing rare earth minerals such as copper, lithium and cobalt, inviting audiences to therefore question the industrial use and disuse of our technology and consider the geology of media, as in where and how these resources are coming from around the world. I also engage in the concern of natural resource depletion as we physically and irreversibly change the Earth’s landscape through excavation and quarrying.
Artist Bio
Scotland based visual artist, Katie Hallam, has developed her skills in photography and print over the past 10 years alongside teaching in Art Education. Since completing her MA in Contemporary Art Practice at Edinburgh College of Art 2020, she has focused her artistic direction to sculptural works exploring her key interests in the physicality of ancient geology and contemporary technologies, she now teaches in Perth and has her studio based in Cupar. Katie’s recent achievements include receiving the 2022/3 Residency Award with the Royal Scottish Academy and Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop and was a shortlisted artist as one of five for the Emerging Scottish Sculpture Award 2024 at Edinburgh Park to commission a new public artwork within the development. Recent group exhibitions include the Royal Society of Sculptors at Thirsk Hall Sculpture Garden, North Yorkshire, ‘Material Truths’ sculpture show in Scarborough and selected work exhibited as part of the ‘Sculpture in the Landscape’ project at the Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park, Yorkshire.
