Staying Afloat - Stella Marina

Stella Marina, Easy Rider, oil on cotton canvas, 2020.

“Time has smoothed my porous exterior, calcified me, these days I carry a shell.

At home nowhere and everywhere we are at peace in the world. Gone are trivial desires and many necessities. We wash in fresh pools, dry in the sun. Sleep beneath trees and stretch on grass verges. “

~

The proclamation of my intentions was met with weary eyes by my long-suffering university lecturer.

“Have you considered the Slade?” she ventured,

“Nope”.

Her weary eyes were somewhat justified, she had committed a fair amount of effort to my cause, asking if I wanted to assist in her research projects, suggesting postgraduate courses I might like. All for nothing.

2011 saw the cap on tuition fees abolished and along with it the hopes of most of my peer group of studying after our BA’s. The realisation that my education had become a commodity with an ever-increasing price tag came as something of a slap in the face. In hindsight, this realisation comes from a place of distinct socio-economic privilege, however, it also felt like the tip of the iceberg in which so much of my generations faith in central government melted.

With all of this in mind, suddenly a career in an industry that throughout history has been famously lawless did not seem such a bad idea.

Seafaring, in its many formats, has played host to the wayward and hard-to-pigeonhole amongst society since its conception.

It takes a certain kind of person to give up that which traditionally has been held as sacred and non-negotiable; family, homestead, stability. In exchange for the promise of adventure, riches and self-reliance. At sea, you can choose a different kind of kingdom.

One earned in experiences, knowledge, reputation and indeed perhaps money, or at the least livelihood. Strangely the traits necessary to survive as an artist and as a sailor are not in my mind dissimilar; resilience, self-reliance with a side of the rebellion. An ability to exist fully as yourself without any of the material goods which support the egos of many. These days I am thankful for the cocoon of wooden planks, frames, knees and fastenings which I can call my home. I feel I have earnt the right to the comfort and stability of owning my own boat and the ability to take it wherever I want. Along with it, I have earned the right to the motifs of ocean-going, of sunrises and spindrift, of towering doldrums clouds and that white-gold light that becomes trapped behind the rain. The moments to which words can do little justice.

The line between “Artist and Sailor” and “Sailor who paints” is a blurry one. But I am okay with that, part of me thinks it may always have been this way. It is how we internally digest these experiences and re-present them to the outside world which I suppose is the difference. How sad it would be to have all the time and space in the world, but not to have lived and have things you are waiting to portray.


British artist and sailor Stella Marina’s practice examines themes of survival for the modern age. Stories of resilience, self-reliance and reducing one’s reliance on societal constructs are translated into ethereal images which build a foggy sense of immersion, quietly recalling far-flung places and forgotten lands.

Her recent compilation showcases work made whilst living in a state of transience, themes of isolation, freedom and self-examination are peppered with portraits of fleeting moments. Having spent much of the past 8 years living and working at sea, she has stripped down what it is to be an artist to its elemental parts and see’s her multidisciplinary practice as a method of navigating a new era.

www.stella-marina.co.uk

@studio_s.marina

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