ALICE MAHONEY: WATER BODIES

10 Jan-25 Apr 2026

Water Bodies, 2025

Overview

SHOWING ON THE RAMP WALL AT THE EXCHANGE

Water Bodies brings together documentation from a series of participatory walks in and around Camborne, a map of lost and existing water sites, and material experiments shaped by the town’s post-industrial landscape.

Led by artist Alice Mahoney with historian Jonny Davey, the walks traced speculative water cycles through Camborne, prompting participants to reflect on water’s role in local myth, industry, and transformation; from streams and mermaid carvings to vanished holy wells and underground watercourses.

Working with ceramic artist Rosanna Martin at Brickfield (a community brickworks based in a disused clay pit near St Austell), Mahoney used local clays and waste materials to create slips, glazes, and colours drawn from Camborne’s terrain. These sculptural tests consider the cyclical and impermanent nature of the landscape, and how creative processes might help reconnect us with place. Some of this development work will also inform Mahoney’s forthcoming solo exhibition at Auction House, Redruth, in March 2026.

The accompanying map, developed with graphic designer Anje Jager, charts visible and hidden water sites, highlighting the layered relationships between Camborne’s landscape, industry, mythology, and memory.

Funded by Arts Council England and Camborne Town Council, Water Bodies explores how humans and water shape one another; a reciprocal, connected relationship that runs through bodies, land, and time.

With special thanks to Melanie Stidolph and Annemarie Bala who documented the walks, and Rosanna Martin who is supporting the development of the ceramics at Brickfield.

ARTIST'S TALK
Sat 17 Jan 2026, 11:00
An In Conversation event with artist Alice Mahoney and Curator Cat Gibbard.
Join artist Alice Mahoney in conversation with curator Cat Gibbard as they discuss Water Bodies. The talk will look more closely at some of the places and stories uncovered along these routes, from lost wells to post-industrial sites, and the material experiments that have emerged from this project.

Book now