vicky
rodEN

ABOUT COMmISSION

The Sandwell Honours

This exhibition explores the notion of civic and community identity through objects. Manufactured in the style of religious relics and crown jewels, the treasures in The Sandwell Honours seek to reflect the areas by both celebrating each individual town and working as a unified collection. Each item has its own story, and all involve sapphires to mark the 45th anniversary of the formation of Sandwell. Over the course of Blast!, the audience will be able to visit, handle and make their own relics.

This commission is part of the Forge Artist Open Call Programme which invited 12 West Midlands artists and/or curators to make new bodies of work for the Blast! Festival and take part in a mentorship programme.

ARTIST BIO

Vicky Roden is a multi-disciplinary artist working primarily in Live Art. Much of her work seeks to draw the audience into an uncanny and slightly sinister world, utilising performance, soft sculpture, embroidery, sound, moving image and automata in order to engage the audience and make them complicit rather than passive viewers. Roden’s work focuses primarily on mythology, both real and fabricated, together with examining traditionally powerful female figures such as the Maiden Aunt and the Eccentric Adventuress. She’s particularly interested in the roles shared stories and folklore play in communities.