Gorham’s Cave-inspired installation to travel to Jerez

An installation inspired by the Gorham’s Cave Complex and created by Alan Perez, in collaboration with ceramicist Ermelinda Duarte, formed part of the Traces of Humanity exhibition and is now set to travel to Jerez, Spain, after being exhibited in Gibraltar, Margate and London. 

The project began with a proposal from curator Phillipa Beale, who invited the artists to use the complex as a starting point and source of inspiration. 

Although the artists were asked not to produce landscape or representational work, the archaeological marks found at the site provided a basis for the installation. 

A visit organised by Gibraltar Cultural Services to the Gorham’s Cave interpretation centre drew Mr Perez’s attention to the importance of mark-making. 

Mark making, he said, already plays a central role in his visual language, with drawing forming the starting point for installations and other work.  

“I draw all the time even though I end up doing installations like this one, but the main source is always the drawing,” he said. 

Mr Perez later visited the site from the sea with Victor Gonzalez, from the Fine Arts Association, and produced several drawings. Further research was carried out at the Gibraltar Museum, where archaeological finds from the site were examined. 

“I started doing some drawing. I did 10 or more and from those drawings. I started to zoom in to sections that showed more of the mark making or the practice of mark making, the human side of mark making. I focused on little areas which I enlarged. Maybe a section would be 1 cm x 3 cm or something like that and then I enlarge the section to 1 m 50 height by 50 cm width,” he said.  

The enlarged images revealed the marks and trails left by the pencil. 

“What you see there are actually very tiny drawings that have been blown up and the mark making is very important, even the drawings were done with pencil and, when you blow up the drawing, the pencil will leave particular marks in the trail of the line, which is something that fascinated me,” he said.  

The drawings were then photographed digitally and sent to Madrid, where they were printed onto transparent fabric. 

Visitors can walk through the hanging fabric and become part of the installation, creating shapes and shadows within the work and reflecting its focus on people leaving their own marks. 

Ms Duarte produced the ceramic elements placed beneath the fabric. These include around six sculptures incorporating impressions taken from different areas of Gibraltar and connecting the installation’s themes of earth, air and mark-making. 

The work was developed over several months, beginning with the drawings before progressing to the installation plan, printed fabric and ceramic pieces. 

It was initially designed for the space in which it was shown in Gibraltar but was adapted for later exhibitions. 

In Margate, it was displayed at the front of a gallery,  the former Woolworths building in the centre of the town. Mr Perez said visitors during the installation process spoke with them to learn more about the piece. 

The work was also adapted for its London exhibition, with changes made to suit the space and the surrounding artworks, said Mr Perez. 

The artist said these relationships with other works developed organically as the installation moved between venues. 

The piece will next travel to Jerez for an exhibition involving Ms Duarte. There have been proposals for other possible venues, but no further exhibitions have been confirmed. 

The artist also expressed an interest in bringing the work back to Gibraltar, potentially for display in the Natural History Museum. 

The collaboration with Ms Duarte has opened the possibility of developing the project further or creating new work together. 

Mr Perez noted that he always tries to collaborate with different creative people, be they musicians, dancers, visual artists or sculptors, and working together in the future could also give the installation a different form. 

“When you get the right people in the right places, things begin to happen,” he said. 

“Maybe this piece still has another life somewhere else.”