New Sea Level, by Sheena Seex

Title of work - New Sea Level

I came up with the idea on a train journey on my way back from London, on a hot July day in torrential rain, from a symposium on the conceptual garden at the Tate.

I was reading The Drowned World by J.G. Ballalard.

The image of water engulfing an entire city with only the highest apartment blocks being habitable made me think about how even a small rise in sea level would change the landscape of Portobello.

I wanted to use canes because they are a familiar sight in the garden. They also have a natural variation in thickness and shape which lends a sense of movement. There is a rippling movement created as you walk past and your eyes see the canes in relation to each other. The canes are topped with metal tips which reflect and catch the light. I chose to paint them blue for water and the unusual presence of blue occurring naturally in the garden. So that you are drawn to the sight of something familiar, like water, but it is also slightly disconcerting as the presence of water in the garden would be. The canes are several shades of blue and I see them as a kind of canvas but multi surfaced rather than the flat surface of a canvas.