Heavy Water is a home­com­ing – a col­lec­tive return from rel­a­tive iso­la­tion to the land. The group exhi­bi­tion explores human­i­ty, tran­sience and the lure of the nat­ur­al world; from rit­u­als of mourn­ing to the secrets of matri­ar­chal moss colonies and the his­toric migra­tion of humans across lands in the search of peace, of free­dom. Pre­sent­ing work devel­oped dur­ing their time on the Free­lands Artists’ Pro­gramme, Maud Haya-Baviera, Vic­to­ria Lucas and Joan­na Whittle’s inter­dis­ci­pli­nary exhi­bi­tion weaves his­tor­i­cal nar­ra­tives with fic­tion and mysticism.

The audio visu­al works in Heavy Water at Site Gallery were expe­ri­enced sequen­tial­ly, one after the oth­er. Through their audi­to­ry and visu­al call­ing, each video work drew the audi­ence through the dim­ly lit space — where sculp­ture, pho­tographs and paint­ing also lay in wait. This exhi­bi­tion was an encounter with a con­stel­la­tion of con­cep­tu­al works, which flowed like water in to one and other. 

Heavy Water was a part of the wider Plat­form 20 pro­gramme (27 July – 22 August), which fea­tured the work of five Sheffield based artists: James Clark­son, Maud Haya-Baviera, Vic­to­ria Lucas, Conor Rogers and Joan­na Whit­tle. The mul­ti­site exhi­bi­tion and sup­port­ing pub­lic pro­gramme of talks, work­shops and events pre­sent­ed a fas­ci­nat­ing mate­r­i­al and con­cep­tu­al insight into artists’ work-in-progress, devel­oped dur­ing their two-year residency.

Plat­form is an estab­lished artis­tic devel­op­ment pro­gramme at Site Gallery which allows artists to explore new ideas in a pub­lic space, test­ing new think­ing and research with engaged audi­ences. For this edi­tion, the exhi­bi­tion will be pre­sent­ed at Site Gallery, York­shire Art­space and Bloc Projects.

The artists began their res­i­den­cies in 2019 and are five of twen­ty from the Sheffield City Region, tak­ing part in a rolling five-year ini­tia­tive fund­ed through the Free­lands Artist Pro­gramme. Each artist receives a two-year paid res­i­den­cy which includes invest­ment in pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment, pro­duc­tion as well as oppor­tu­ni­ties to exhibit.