Made from this Land

The team at W H Collier has been collaborating with artist Emma Edmondson on a project called ‘Made from this Land’comissioned by Focal Point in Southend. Emma’s project is inspired by the fact that the deeds of many houses in Southchurch, where she lives, have a covenant saying residents are not allowed to make bricks or tiles from the clay underneath their feet, a seam nestled in the soil they walk on daily. The project explores the untold history of local brickfields to create a permanent artwork formed of the clay of Southchurch; setting out to change residents’ covenants, so that bricks, tiles, or the like, can be produced from their land. As a local resident, Edmondson became interested in these far-removed systems and rules and through this commission wants to start a conversation about agency, land ownership and our connections as humans to the land we live on. Emma visited W H Collier where we taught her a little about how we make our handmade bricks and she returned to teach us a little about the brickmaking method she has been using with local residents in Southchurch.

For more information on Made from this Land talk to W H Collier Ltd