Kathryn Maguire in the Department of English

Kathryn Maguire is an artist-in-residence at King’s College London. Working in collaboration with Dr Jemima Matthews, Lecturer in Early Modern English Literature, Kathryn is working on a project exploring the rich history and possible futures of riverine and estuarine matter.

Silt and other Matters

This residency will explore the rich history and possible futures of riverine and estuarine matter. Six materials have been selected and this project will consider the biography of these materials, their physical characteristics, and the sites and spaces where they can be recovered. This practice-based research provides a new way of uncovering the literary and material history of the river. By introducing hidden voices from the archive Dr Jemima Matthews and artist Kathryn Maguire will introduce a new set of narratives about riverine materials. Through this unique collaboration Dr Jemima Matthews and Kathryn Maguire will explore the early modern, modern, and future history of these materials on and off the page. By tracing the six materials through time and space this residency will engage with landscapes lost and regained by the river; histories of flooding, drought and riverscape management; local and global narratives of crisis and sustainable practice.

Project team

Dr Jemima Matthews is a Lecturer in Early Modern Literature and culture at King's College London. She is currently preparing her monograph Habitat and Habitation: The River Thames 1550 to 1650 for publication. Challenging the divide between riverine texts and contexts in new ways, this study unsettles the distinction between written and physical geographies.

Kathryn Maguire is making diverse cultural references linking the past with the contemporary; exploring geology, history of materials including building materials and the circular economy. Current themes in her practice are lithics, minerals and mining and knowing place from the ground up.