ROSIE MORTIMER

SURFACE EDGE SHADOW

STEEL, COPPER & IRON

Surface, Edge, Shadow is a new permanent sculpture installed on Artelium’s estate. This piece was inspired by the concept of ‘the wall,’ a physical representation of division. Borders, channels, fences and choices can decide opportunity, wealth & status. Mortimer created two buttresses: reinforcements placed on either side of a division to support and strengthen it; not physically describing the wall itself but drawing attention to what happens on either side of the divide.  One buttress is constructed from iron, which will rust and weather, the other copper, which will maintain its colour, a metaphor for the affects of divided opportunity.  

This sculpture inspired the label designs for Artefacts #11 & #12. The delicate ink drawings reference the shapes and materials of ‘Surface, Edge, Shadow.’ These designs have spawned a new collection of ‘drawings for sculpture,’ shown for the first time at her 2025 exhibition at Artelium Divided Light.