The Crossing: low tide is a naturally dyed textile, hand-stitched to hold the texture of a riverbed, the ripples, the unevenness underfoot. It was laid on the floor of Tower Gallery E13 alongside a basket of stones borrowed from the Lea riverbed.
Visitors were invited to pick up a stone, hold what they wanted to release and walk the cloth riverbed. Over the course of the exhibition, the stones accumulated, carried and placed by each person who crossed.
Responses ranged from hesitation, playfulness and curiosity to profound gratitude. Some people crossed slowly, deliberately: others skipped and recrossed multiple times. One visitor exclaimed as she stepped on: “it feels like sand under my feet.”
The piece was the beginning of something rather than a conclusion. The sediment it collected, the collective weight of what people chose to let go, will be returned to the River Lea during my pilgrimage walk in June 2026. It is designed as an entry point into a 2-3 year inquiry into river, watershed and belonging.
