Welcome to the second episode of Notes From The Field, a Cement Fields podcast where we talk to artists, practitioners and researchers to dig deeper into our projects and the people behind them.

Our guest for this second episode of Notes From The Field is Sea Like a Mirror lead artist Ivan Morison. Sea Like a Mirror is an ambitious national partnership programme, commissioned to mark the 200th anniversary of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, inspired by the profound legacy of their life-saving work. 

At the heart of the programme is a newly commissioned artwork, White Horses, by Ivan Morison, from the collaborative practice of Heather Peak and Ivan Morison. Produced through a series of visits to lifeboat stations in six diverse seaside towns around the coastline, this travelling 16mm film work, housed in a sculptural tent, explores the myriad roles the sea plays for those who hold a deep connection to the water.

Across May and June this year, White Horses returned to these locations, and in each setting was presented alongside a series of commissions from local artists, made in collaboration with the area’s community, making up the Sea Like a Mirror programme.

Ivan Morison has established an ambitious practice that transcends the divisions between art, architecture, theatre and social practice; questioning what it means to be an artist in the 21st Century. His primary preoccupation has always been how we navigate catastrophe and the violence of change – from the wider collective view down to how individuals deal with moments of personal calamity. Alongside Heather Peak, he is co-director of artist-led creative practice Studio Morison, whose work centres around spaces of human coexistence and the communities that occupy or may gather there. They categorise their work as a situated practice constructed from layers of social sculpture and sculptural space.

Sea Like a Mirror is a partnership project led by Cement Fields, with Art Gene, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, North East Lincolnshire Council & East Marsh United, and Super Culture. With thanks to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). Supported with public funding from Arts Council England. Presented in Gravesend for Estuary 2025 with Estuary Festival.

Thank you for listening.