Rowan Mersh: Praeteritum, Praesens et Futurum

After graduating with a degree in textiles from the Royal College of Art in 2005, Mersh started making textile sculptures and kinetic installations. A desire to experiment with more unusual, natural materials led him to begin working with seashells in 2012. His high-brow pieces see the humble seashells elevated to a status way beyond that of the trinkets and jewellery boxes made with seashells in seaside British towns.

Proving that seashells as a material need not be confined to the arts-and-crafts movement, his sculptures have been acquired by prestigious collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Notably, his 'Asabikeshiinh (Dreamcatcher)' won the Moët Hennessy Prize for best contemporary design at PAD London in 2016.​

Mersh favours three particular seashells: dentalium (commonly used by Native American artists to make indigenous jewellery), turritella (the coiled shells of sea snails) and windowpane oysters (the pearlescent outer shells of marine mollusks). He painstakingly assembles these to compose complex pieces sometimes evocative of three-dimensional drawings or monochromatic abstract artworks.