First and last kiss - Sarah Humphrey

Falmouth University
Wooden Sculpture
 
Humphrey’s sculptural practice reimagines botanical illustration through an alchemical ecology, that challenges systems of classification and control. Created from a single piece of wood and painted with symbolic, intuitive gestures, this work transmutes seaweed into art with a sacred and emotionally resonant presence. The concealment of a wooden structure beneath a porcelain-like surface reflects both fragility and resilience. Humphrey invites a ritualistic mode of observation rooted in reverence rather than possession.
First and Last Kiss intertwines ecological loss with a poetic narrative of unobtainable love - a longing for what cannot be owned, only respected and protected. Through this evocative and ecological entanglement, the work calls for a deeper connection with the more-than-human world: sacred, vulnerable, and irreplaceable.