Susan Derges's Tide Pools series is a continuation of her interest in shorelines and inter-tidal zones - rich in both the marine life inhabiting them and the metaphors they offer up for exploration, particularly in the craggy bays of the North Devon coast where many of these images were sourced. The low tides leave behind rock pools that are colourful jewels, full of life and yet very fragile and on the edge of vast forces driven ultimately by the cycles of the moon and the seasons. In this sense they are a microcosm for ourselves and our world.
'Over aeons grey rocks have been carved out by the eddies swirling in on powerful tides to form silent, salt water pools; shining gems lined with pink coralline, reflecting the vast rhythms of the cosmos above. The sun sets, the moon rises, the sea swells and engulfs or withdraws, sustaining these miniature worlds of the intertidal zone. Transient, fragile, colourfully populated dwelling places; sites of memory, continual visiting and contemplating, thought suspended as awareness merges with the water and integrates is own reflection.' (Susan Derges)
