Sept. 2022. European Cultural Centre sculptor curator Vittoria Mastrolilli interviews Gill Gatfield on her research and ideas expressed through the forms, materials, methodologies, and contexts of her site-specific project UNITY presented by ECC in 'Personal Structures' in parallel with the Venice Art Biennale 2022; and asks how this work expands on the artist's sculpture Zealandia in 'Time Space Existence' at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018.
"UNITY evokes the wisdom of ancestors and new philosophies to activate the mind’s eye. From early Buddhist teachings and the 6th century BCE musings of the Ancient Greek slave Aesop to the 19th century CE whakatauki by Māori King Tāwhaio, spiritual guides call for strength in unity when confronted with adversity. ... This project imagines how the forces of unity can be shaped in the Anthropocene, a period of self-centrality and drive to dominate not only the ‘Other’ – nations and people outside the centres of power – but also the Earth and the biosphere. ..."