Angela Palmer British, b. 1957
Torus of Time, 2023
Sixteen stones commencing Lewisian Gneiss, circa 3 billion years, Isle of Barra
110 x 90 x 60 cm
43 1/4 x 35 1/2 x 23 1/2 in
Base: 80 x 60 x 20 cm
43 1/4 x 35 1/2 x 23 1/2 in
Base: 80 x 60 x 20 cm
Unique
'Torus of Time' is one of Angela Palmer' most phenomenal sculptures to date. 'Torus of Time' represents a complete circle of 3 billion years of time in the geological life...
'Torus of Time' is one of Angela Palmer' most phenomenal sculptures to date. 'Torus of Time' represents a complete circle of 3 billion years of time in the geological life of the United Kingdom whilst also exploring our global concept of Deep Ttime and the creation of the earth as we know it today. 'Torus of Time' illuminates the genesis of a nation by revealing what is beneath our very feet a unique skill which Palmer has been perfecting through her work over the past two decades. She says:
"When I began this project I had no idea that our country originated near the South Pole, and that for billions of years Scotland and Northern Ireland enjoyed an entirely separate existence on a different continent to England and Wales. It was only when the tectonic plates shifted that they collided and were physically united, just south of the Equator around 425m years ago."
'Torus of Time' uses stones sourced from quarries the length and breadth of the country from each geological period to tell the story of Deep Time. As Palmer describes:
If we read Torus of Time like a geological clock we see that from 6'oclock to 10'oclock all four nations of the United Kingdom were in the Southern Hemisphere - Scotland and Northern Ireland part of the Laurentia and England and Wales part of Gondwana then Avalon. By 10 o'clock England and Scotland collided just south of the Equator and were stitched together at roughly the same location as today's Anglo-Scottish border. So from circa 10 o'clock we move into the Northern Hemisphere and to our current location, which all goes to explain why we are here now, at this particular place and this particular time.
"When I began this project I had no idea that our country originated near the South Pole, and that for billions of years Scotland and Northern Ireland enjoyed an entirely separate existence on a different continent to England and Wales. It was only when the tectonic plates shifted that they collided and were physically united, just south of the Equator around 425m years ago."
'Torus of Time' uses stones sourced from quarries the length and breadth of the country from each geological period to tell the story of Deep Time. As Palmer describes:
If we read Torus of Time like a geological clock we see that from 6'oclock to 10'oclock all four nations of the United Kingdom were in the Southern Hemisphere - Scotland and Northern Ireland part of the Laurentia and England and Wales part of Gondwana then Avalon. By 10 o'clock England and Scotland collided just south of the Equator and were stitched together at roughly the same location as today's Anglo-Scottish border. So from circa 10 o'clock we move into the Northern Hemisphere and to our current location, which all goes to explain why we are here now, at this particular place and this particular time.
Provenance
From the artist1
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