Natural Capital, front and back, by Maslen & Mehra

Maslen & Mehra’s Natural Capital

Natural Capital, a sculpture created in paper mache and decoupage by St Leonards-based international artists Maslen & Mehra, is now installed in the Durbar Hall at the Hastings Museum. It will be on view until the 10 July. Kay Davis writes.

Maslen & Mehra

Maslen & Mehra have responded to a piece in the Hastings Museum collection and created a new sculpture titled Natural Capital. The 16th century Maiolica dish by Federigo of Modena is thought to be one of the largest examples of this type of ceramics. It depicts several hunting scenes. Maslen & Mehra take this idea of nature as a resource a step further. They have altered the narrative to reference a system by which natural assets (water, geology, biodiversity, soil, air) and ecosystem services (pollination by insects, recreation, natural flood defences, etc) are given a value.

This new work is part of a series which the artists have been researching and developing based on pieces in collections in museums around the world. The sculptures have three themes – cash, clash and climate – and have been researched in museums such as the Victoria and Albert and British Museums, London; Mares Museum, Barcelona; the Metropolitan Museum, New York; the Archaeological Museum and the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum, Istanbul; the Asian Museum of Civilization in Singapore; and the Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche in Faenza, Italy. Maslen & Mehra fashion the sculptures from wire, papier-mâché and archival photo decoupage.

More information can be found here and here.

Natural Capital

The Durbar Hall
Hastings Museum & Art Gallery
Bohemia Road
Hastings
East Sussex TN34 1ET

7 May-10 July 2016

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