Cloud Roots
Medal
2006
2006
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Cloud Roots was made by Natasha Ratcliffe in 2006. This diminutive medal holds in its small boudaries a miniaturised world: on the obverse, a jungle of roots falls from a cloud, while on the reverse a mountain stems from these roots. The two-sidedness of the medal is used to play with contrasts, as Cloud Roots reflects on the unlikely union of the incredibly light (the cloud) with the incredibly heavy (the mountain). The theme of nature and the motif of the mountain recur in Ratcliffe's work, reflecting environmental concerns which are often found at the heart of her medal-making.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Cloud Roots (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Cast bronze |
| Brief description | Medal, 'Cloud Roots', cast bronze, by Natasha Ratcliffe, British, 2006. |
| Physical description | Circular bronze medal. The obverse presents a cloud from which are stemming roots. The reverse shows a mountain supported by roots. Cloud and mountain are in slightly raised relief. On either side, an inscription is running close to the edge of the medal and on the rim. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | Cloud roots made of beautiful green, twisting and growing into immense jungle. / Blowing in the wind, rustling with birds sat swinging./ Sun shining through the leaves, casting magic shadows that hold up mountains |
| Gallery label | CLOUD ROOTS
2005
By Natasha Ratcliffe (born 1982)
‘A jungle falling from a bronze cloud… Stems dancing like rain... Logic and reality are blown away in this medal. If clouds had roots as the medal’s text suggests, where would they go? On the obverse, the cloud’s roots form forests and on the reverse, these forests support mountains suspended in the sky, unmoveable masses of land lifted by leaves. This poetic upheaval of nature sees the world in a new balance'
England (Falmouth), cast by Joe Waller
Cast bronze
Museum no. A.2-2012(10/02/2012-19/08/2012) |
| Object history | This medal was bought from the artist in 2012, when it was shown at the V&A as part of "The New Medallists", a display celebrating the first six years of the New Medallist scheme, an initiative run by the British Art Medal Society. By nurturing a new generation of medallists, the scheme is designed to breathe new life into the tradition of the art medal. The 2005/6 recipient of the New Medallist scheme, Natasha Ratcliffe has since exhibited nationally and internationally and received commissions, notably from the Royal Mint, the Biochemical Society and the Art Fund. Ratcliffe creates medals that are often inspired by nature: moutains (first appearing in her early medal Les Gardiens de Nuit, 2002, at the British Museum), trees, skys recur in her work. Cloud Roots "reflects on the unlikely union of the incredibly heavy with the incredibly light: two-sided, the medal lends itself to carrying two worlds radically opposed to one another. Borne on roots, an enchanted mountain is suspended in thin air while these same roots sprout from a levitating cloud." (Vandenbrouck-Przybylski and Leavitt Bourne, 2012, p. 18). The substancial role granted to lettering and the skillful rendering of a miniaturised world in the confined boundaries of the medal, are evocative of the work of Pisanello, the Italian Renaissance father of medallic art. |
| Summary | Cloud Roots was made by Natasha Ratcliffe in 2006. This diminutive medal holds in its small boudaries a miniaturised world: on the obverse, a jungle of roots falls from a cloud, while on the reverse a mountain stems from these roots. The two-sidedness of the medal is used to play with contrasts, as Cloud Roots reflects on the unlikely union of the incredibly light (the cloud) with the incredibly heavy (the mountain). The theme of nature and the motif of the mountain recur in Ratcliffe's work, reflecting environmental concerns which are often found at the heart of her medal-making. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | A.2-2012 |
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| Record created | March 19, 2012 |
| Record URL |
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