Howl

Chichester’s Pallant House Gallery has unveiled Howl, a new staircase commission by artist Ro Robertson (b 1984) created for the staircase of the gallery’s historic townhouse and inspired by the rhythms of the Cornish coastline and the elemental forces of the sun, moon and sea.

Simon Martin, director of Pallant House Gallery, said: “Ro Robertson’s ambitious site-specific installation comprises a monumental mural and a suspended sculptural work, set within Pallant House Gallery’s grand oak staircase. Rooted in the artist’s consideration of Queer Ecologies and the fluidity of the almost island of West Penwith, Howl explores the movements of the moon, sun and their relationship to the sea.

“Drawing on Robertson’s experience of working at Porthmeor Studios on Porthmeor Beach in St Ives, Howl features luminous circles, arcs and crescent forms that rise and fall through the space, evoking the shifting energies of sunlight, moonlight and tides. Combining sweeping washes painted directly onto the gallery walls with large collaged elements of circular gouache works created through an automatic painting process in the artist's studio, the mural creates a seascape that reflects the journey of the sun and moon across our sky. It invites consideration of our own position in relation to these celestial movements.

“For Robertson, the word howl holds a double meaning; in kernewek (Cornish) it means sun, while in English the word suggests the act of howling at the moon. This interplay of meaning is held in the mural through the mirroring of these solar and lunar forms.

“Crosswaves, Robertson’s first suspended sculpture, descends from the Gallery’s ceiling and is constructed from interlocking curved sheets of steel. Inspired by the unique position of St Ives on a peninsula surrounded by beaches, the sculpture harnesses the movement of Cornwall’s cross shore waves, reflecting the interconnected and ever-changing nature of the sea. The steel has been immersed in the sea waters of Porthmeor Beach and expressively painted in marine paint, allowing the sea salt to continue to weather and change the work over the course of its display.”

Ro added: “It is an honour to create this immersive artwork for Pallant House Gallery’s staircase commission and bring the sculptural and painterly strands of my practice together within the context of such an architecturally rich space. I believe the power of sculpture lies in its ability to expand our perspectives, and it has been a personal aspiration to create a sculptural installation that can be experienced from many different viewpoints.

“I hope that as the viewer navigates this installation, the joy and wonder that Kernow (Cornwall) has brought to my creative life can be felt. I believe that when we combine creativity with a deeper connection to the Earth and its cycles, we become better equipped to care for and be part of its ecosystems.”

Simon added: “Robertson’s largest work to date, Howl creates an enveloping experience for visitors to the Gallery’s historic townhouse that blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture, body and seascape.

“Presented alongside Barbara Hepworth and Greece and Alfred Wallis: An Artists’ Artist as part of the autumn exhibition season, the installation was conceived in Robertson’s Porthmeor Studio in St Ives, just steps away from the former homes and studios of both Hepworth and Wallis. The installation offers a contemporary dialogue with these exhibitions through the shared theme of the enduring power of land and sea.”

Pallant House Gallery’s regular staircase commissions bring newly commissioned, site-specific art to the heart of its historic 18th-century townhouse. Each commission rethinks the space and how people interact with objects in the Gallery. Previous commissions have included Rana Begum, Nina Saunders, Francesco Toledo, Spencer Finch, Bouke de Vries, Clare Woods and Pablo Bronstein.

Howl is on display in the Gallery’s historic staircase in the Queen Anne townhouse until October 2028.