Liz Ballard – Tracing Water

Liz Ballard worked with Dr Kevin Hiscock, a hydrologist from the University of East Anglia who specialises in water pollution. Ballard had been exploring the effects of pollution and climate change in East Anglia, in particular water pollution in the River Wensum that runs through Norwich. 

‘Tracing Water’ was presented at Norfolk and Norwich Festival and built on a previous series of drawings created by the slow thawing of frozen pigment. Ballard produced a site-specific work from Hiscock’s current study of  the water pollution in the Norwich river system. The contemplative installation in the River Wensum consisted of luminous green forms that gradually disappeared yet simultaneously altered the river’s appearance.The River Wensum is one of the most important of the UK’s chalk river habitats and 99% of its main river channel is in decline from agricultural and industrial pollution. ‘Tracing Water’ encouraged viewers to consider the importance of water as a finite resource and how our actions are reflected in our natural surroundings.

Image: © Liz Ballard, Tracing Water, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, May 2011. Photo Simon Steven.