Earlier last month I had a solo exhibition at Art The Hague and my first opportunity to launch the Tidelines project, it was important to launch the drawings in The Hague where they have been made. This is a project looking at wave action and thus the erosion created by waves. I took two locations, one in the Netherlands and the other half will follow which will be based in Eastern England. I took two sides of the North Sea, both fragile coastlines that have seen repeated flooding particularly in more recent times in 1953 for example. I wanted to link to edges of the same sea.
I have been fascinated by wave action as part of the Coastlines project but the lockdown because a hugely motivating factor. It was only then I recognised my own need to be by the sea, when I was no longer able to be. As soon as I could I went back to the shore. My inspiration for this particular series came from both the thought that nearby to where I was drawing was the fort at Katwijk where Roman soldiers had spent many years in relative isolation looking out to sea for a unknown enemy (the site is now at least 500 metres out to sea). On the Northeastern coast of the UK monks in Lindisfarne were isolated writing and illustrating copies of the gospels. It was that idea of enclosure I recognised.
My drawing follows the line of the tide as it comes over my page. The drawing is submerged in the process. I draw for approximately 5 minutes every five minutes. The lines are an accurate representation of the tidal movement and I collate these drawings into series. The idea is to create Tide Bibles or Tide Books as a collection of the movements between different periods of the day. Each drawing is labelled with the time period it was made in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKrKetUsSko
This is the video link to a short film made about the project. Thanks to Michèle Bergsma for her filming and the images.
Drawing on the coastline of the Hague, the Netherlands.
Finished drawing
Tide Bible on display, above a triptych made in Beaufort force 5 wind off the sea. @image and concept Lilian Cooper