Encountered within the shifting landscape of Tremenheere, Amy and Oliver Thomas-Irvine’s Holding Breath feels at once grounded and ethereal. This louvered metal wall, inspired by the geological seam where Mylor Slate meets granite, fuses architectural, anatomical, and geological forms, referencing tensions and shifts above and below the surface. More than a sculptural intervention, it is a meditation on transition, perception, and place.
When approached from the south, the structure appears solid and weighty, but as the visitor moves around it, it transforms almost completely, revealing slices of the surrounding gardens, sky, horizon, and St. Michael’s Mount. The central dislocated section rises above the ground, supported on either side, creating a gesture of relief and allowing both wind and visitors to pass through, a sculptural rhythm that echoes the act of breathing. Its form references fractures and shifts within geology, specifically fault blocks and Horsts, reminiscent of a fractured wall in which the middle section has been dislocated.
Like much of Amy and Oliver’s collaborative practice since 2008, the work draws on material presence while inviting contemplative awareness of absence, the space between, the pause, the breath held. Their sensitivity to landscape and form has led them to residencies across Europe and the Far East, with exhibitions spanning Tate Modern, Tate Britain, and international institutions. At Tremenheere, Holding Breath holds its own against an extraordinary setting: the sweep of sky, rolling slopes, and the elemental pull of Cornish granite. Rather than competing with its surroundings, the sculpture enters into dialogue with them, subtly responding to both nature and viewer.
This attentiveness to context resonates with Amy and Oliver’s role as curators of Sediment of Sleep, the current group exhibition in Tremenheere Gallery. There, as here, they explore transformation, collapse, and resilience, the quiet processes by which one form becomes another, and how material presence is always on the cusp of change. Holding Breath makes this palpable, reminding us that even steel can seem to dissolve into light, and that what feels fixed is often only momentary.
Visitors are encouraged to pause with the work, noticing the interplay of solidity and openness, shadow and glimmer. In doing so, the sculpture becomes an analogue for the act of looking itself: we hold our breath, just for a moment, to pay attention.
The Gardens are open daily, 10:30 – 5:30 (last entry 4:30). The exhibition is open Tuesday – Saturday, 11am – 4pm, until 20th September.