In keeping with the theme of ‘Climate’ for the exhibition, Hodge has produced a large-scale monoprint image depicting a pair of lungs made from acrylic and crushed coal dust. The process involves grinding up 'coal pebbles', she found washed up on the River Thames, coated in the coal from our coal-fueled industrial past. Hodge sprinkled the coal dust over the wet acrylic on the paper, pressed a tissue on top, and removed it to reveal the vein-like pattern. The intricate pattern evokes root-like structures or blood vessels linking up to each other.
With the image of coal-infused lungs, the artist reflects the irreversible and devastating damage caused to miners by coal dust. In the city, coal caused equally damaging effects to human life, when it was burnt by factories and households as the main source of fuel, producing smog. She draws attention to the visible: the black smog coated buildings, and the invisible: the tar covered lungs of the city’s inhabitants. Hodge puts a spotlight on the human cost of pollution with her image of a pair of blackened lungs. It is a dark reminder of our polluted past and the future.
Image: Exchange, 2021, coal dust and acrylic medium on Kozo tissue, H810 mm x W1170 mm.
Courtesy and ©Sam Hodge and Renée Pfister Art & Gallery Consultancy, 2022
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