Dig Me A Grave (2025)
Medium
Sculpture, drawing, film, sound
Keywords
Rest, depression, liminal space, folk song, graves, trans experience, body as landscape, landscape as body, archives, museums
Exhibition History
• Dig Me A Grave, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield (2025)
• Dig Me A Grave, Auction House, Cornwall (2025)
• Dig Me A Grave, WIP Space, London (2025)
Images by Sam Hutchinson, Owen Richards, Henri T, and Claye Bowler
Dig Me a Grave is a project which explores themes of depression and dissociation, in part from the lived experience of being trans. Inspired by a various traditional British folk songs, which reference the grave as a place of rest, rehabilitation rather than death.
The graves sit empty within the exhibition, implying their use for waiting and introspection has happened, and the occupant is now living again. The graves within the exhibition invite the viewer to use the space as they wish, textures encourage touch and interaction.
The project features a sound installation made up of Bowler singing various folk songs mixed with sounds of the digging, scrabbling and moving of mud.
Funders/Commissioners
• Jerwood Foundation
• Arts Council England
• Henry Moore Foundation
Research residencies:
• Porthmeor Studios, Cornwall (2024)
• Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield (2024)
• Jerwood Arts, Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange, Cornwall (2023)