A new exhibition by the artist Mary Blue opens at Cromer Artspace this June (12-23) with a subject of great local importance: rising sea levels. Recent estimates suggest that the global average sea level has risen 8-9 inches in the past 150 years, with the rate accelerating due to melting glaciers and ice sheets caused by global warming. Blue’s show Melusina—named after the folktale of the water goddess—immerses visitors in this startling reality. As they journey through the Artspace gallery, the artist’s paintings progress from depictions of the sea at the sandy waters edge and getting deeper into the sea, until they find themselves amongst the underwater blue in the depths of the gallery.
But Blue says that her paintings are about so much more than water: “They are about the power inherent in nature, the fleetingness of life, of meaning and cultural memory. It’s about identifying possibilities and imagining something new; a better world, perhaps.” With that in mind, Blue is hosting students from the nearby Cromer Junior School and Alderman Peel High School—the future generations for whom rising waters will be an increasingly pressing future concern—before the galleries open to the public. The exhibition also includes the local community, with a collaborative installation that invites visitors to contribute their own mark on paper inspired by the sea.
16-13 June 2025
