A painting installation cuts through the exhibition space. An irregular rhythm of opened and closed painted spaces mingles with a playful, changing pattern of colour relation and function. Can you see a ‘hovering’ colour that’s hard to pin down in space or words, its temperature largely defined by its context? From an intimate dialogue with a painted Roman colonnade in the shadowy cryptoporticus of a Pompeian house, this large painting now reflects back the light-filled, Roman-influenced architecture of the Hatton Gallery. What hidden histories mingle in all these breathing walls? What new relationships are forged?

Two beady eyes, a nose like a slide, and a tongue flicking out of a mouth. Do you drink from the cup with the face inwards or the other way around, poking a tongue at your counterpart? Do these face-cups bring luck to the ones drinking from them, or the ones fixed in their gaze? They traveled as possessions, mostly with the military through the Roman Empire, quenching thirsts – so one would hope - and leaving traces of terracotta from the shores of Herculaneum to the forts of Hadrian’s Wall.

All photos by Colin Davison ‌‌‌‌