Colin Gillespie/ 'Sea in Me'

For many people the word `sea' is linked to childhood memories of holidays, beaches, paddling eta. -in companionship with Calm waters -for those who may, in later life, have earned their living in partnership with the sea -there could be darker memories of troubled waters, risks taken, hardships endured. The `sea' has many faces and covers near 3/4 of the earth's surface -so is a dominant presence to all. Humans have travelled the sea{s} since first learning how to construct sea-going craft -they sought other people -other lands -and opportunities to trade or conquer. Today, the United Nations Convention states that -`all seas are open to all states, whether coastal or land locked'. But now -since the early 1990's -the sea{s} -Adriatic, Mediterranean and North {English Channel} - have assumed a new identity -being used as routes across which people seek to escape from persecution, find asylum oF improve their economic condition. The adopted means of travel is often dangerous -in overcrowded (small or large) boats -whose condition places them at risk Of foundering or sinking. Thousands have died in recent years and those countries to which the migrants have sought to enter have increasingly adopted measures to control or restrict their entry. The scale upon which this human movement is growing is evidencing that the problems to be addressed are now not just international but global in nature. The art work related to this statement seeks only to represent some of the factors that are involved in this level of migration -the presence of risk -the loss of identity -the absence of security.