The River so Far and Low by Olivia Aguiar

Olivia Aguiar's Website and Instagram

The River So Far and Low, Oil on Canvas, 2024, 60x30

Intuitively listening to the late-summer hillside in the North of England, The River so Far and Low is a segment of an escapist fantasy world seeking to heal and externalize my bodily happenings at a specific moment in time. I did the work in response to a two-month residency at the Bidston Observatory Research Centre (BOARC), a historic tidal observatory. The work predominantly features a moon chart, the shadow of a lavender field, an oversized seagull, and segments of my body. Created during a period of profound love and loss, isolated from my friends, family and familiarity, The River So Far and Low reflects cyclical psychological processes and coping mechanisms, seeking answers in my external environment.

Overwhelmed by grief, I began acting as both field observer and participant— documenting, sketching and noticing the entanglement of my body-mind and the surrounding landscape. I would lie awake at night listening to the shriek of seagulls swarming the coastline. When I would sleep, I imagined my body sucked into the hillside and dreamt of the seagulls picking at my limbs like worms. My emotions changed with the quiet cycle of the moon, which I was keenly aware of from my towerside dorm room. As I struggled to care for my body, I felt my bones emulsify like the late-summer stew rotting the earth and yellowing the grass. As time passed at BOARC, I traced the physical manifestations of grief and longing on my body and failed to separate them from the quietly shifting landscape enveloping me.

Installation Views Outside