Hannah Rowan
A River is a Flowing Vessel
2021
glass, rain water, glazed ceramic, aquarium pump, timer plug, mister, silicone pipe, river glass, chain, hook

part of artist residency exhibition Exploring the Undefined at Taipei Artist Village

>LISTEN audio piece A River is a Flowing Vessel on Radio Arts Catalyst

During her residency at TAV, Rowan has been continuing her research around bodies of water and phases of matter. She has been interested in learning about Taiwan’s ecosystem; focusing on the mutualistic relationship between butterfly and plants, atmospheric conditions such as humidity and saturation, water as a living archive and submerged aquatic plants. Her work stages Butterfly Chrysalises in relation to molten and recycled glass as sites of material transformation and becoming. Focusing on the metamorphosis of the Chrysalis – the caterpillar quite literally dissolving into liquid, the living soup becomes as an analogy for systems of care, healing, hope and becoming. Inspired by Donna J. Haraway’s tentacular thinking and Ursula K Le Guin’s framing of the carrier bag as a vessel and a container to reflect on notions of repair and multi-species solidarity. Rowan’s research into bodies of water has involved thinking vertically between the river waters surface and the submerged in relation to the unique eco-system provided by the protection of mangroves roots, that inhabit the marginal space between the land and the sea. Rowan reflects on rivers as transitory vessels and stages water as a flowing archive; transmitter, container and the contained. Her work invites us to reflect on our presence as and with bodies of water. To slow down, engage and connect to wider ecological systems.