North Somerset Artist Commission, Germaine Budden

Geramine Budden makes sculptural works and texts informed by natural materials and geological motifs, employing metaphor to foster empathy with the non-human experience. Her practice explores materials and processes, and how they communicate, and how we can apply this intuitive knowledge base to issues around the environment.

In Memory of Water, Germaine explored the art of ‘Suminagashi’: a traditional form of Japanese printmaking created by suspending ink on the surface of water to document the shape and movement of water and its response to wind and currents. In response to the coastline of Weston super Mare, she created intuitive prints in rock pools to experiment with the patterns created within these geological structures, interrupted by seaweed which imposes restrictions on the flow of inks. Exploring the possibilities of unobtrusive ocean safe inks as a method of documenting the landscape, this act also promotes personal connection with place and considers ocean ecologies.

Grains of Sand is a programme of micro-commissions led by Super Culture for early career artists from North Somerset, with outcomes presented at the Promenade Weekender.