Interview with artist, writer, and mentor; Graham Keddie. MRSS. 

ALIEN: Over 20 flexible meters in length, made from synthetic rubber (EPDM)* as part of the ‘Ian’s Waste’ project. Ian, the builder of Rosalind’s new studio, and his team were so fascinated with the end product he proposed all the recycling pieces should be called ‘Ian’s Waste’.

Rosalind completed this work in March 2026. At this time her studio building work was nearing completion. This exciting development for Rosalind was balanced in her mind with the inevitable building waste generated from the construction process and her ethical environmental concerns. In particular, the extraction of fossil fuels. Drilling down into these waste skips she began to extract materials which had, in some way, the potential to be reclaimed and recycled into art production. Her instinct was, find materials and methods to highlight these issues in a challenging visual expression.

This mining operation extracted rolls of synthetic rubber (EPDM) used for the roofing. At this time, she was doing experimental tests with French knitting with her harvested Alpaca yarn with Madder roots used in the dyeing process, both from the field.  

I wanted to talk through this piece of work with Rosalind and find out more about it and her interaction with it during the making process. I had a connection with French knitting myself. We shared an old memory of mine, very young trying to keep in with my older sister making what I still consider an excellent scarf for my Action Man figure!  Rosalind had similar early memories of this fascinating way of turning something as simple as wool into a three-dimensional object.

In her studio we discussed the following questions:

What drew your attention to the EPDM?

It was the earthy, dirty, visceral physicality, texture and colour of the material.

How did you decide this material was appropriate?

I have for some time been using flexible soft materials in my work and deliberately bringing texture, dying and weaving methods into the context of fine art. These materials had always been sourced from the natural environment in particular my fields and garden. One might say, earthed-sourced, with as far as possible, a zero-carbon footprint.

I saw this as a challenge. Could I use this high–carbon footprint material resulting from drilling for oil and natural gas, this time, earth-extracted as a meaningful development in my work.

What made you consider French Knitting as a construction method?

Jen Cable, a fellow artist, demonstrated to me a small manual French Knitting device that she used. But, most of all, I saw a connection with my early childhood and the innocence of the young, with potential harm to the environment the adults are bequeathing to them.

How did you get started?

I cut some of the EPDM into strips and carried out some test pieces. These were good but I felt I needed more of an impact. So, I had a giant spool with rods made up about half the height of me as a workable platform and got started.

What did you experience as you were making?

It was hard physical labour. The lapping, overlapping, repetition of hand movement became a meditation on the history of the material. It spewed out of the spool as a volcanic eruption.  It felt like an unruly Alien; it was of this world and yet not; it had no specific citizenship; it was unfamiliar and yet familiar at the same time.

How do you want this work to function and connect with people?

The initial small pieces: Coil I and Coil II have been on show in Manchester at WATERSIDE ARTS 17^th August – 3rd October 2026.

To date I have displayed the full-sized Alien as an installation in my gallery space for visitors. I have documented me experimenting with full-body movement interpretation with Alien.

I am working on a collaboration with Alien and Cage – more from ‘Ian’s Waste’. Warren Shaw (sound) and Eve McGlashan (improvised body movement). Performance date: Sunday 13thseptember 2026.

What do I think?

Alien has a direct link between the innocence of childhood and adulthood. It’s a simplistic view but one that cuts through a lot of waste. Ironically and perhaps appropriately, it reminds me of the classic fear of snakes hidden under the bed at night waiting for the grownups to leave the bedroom.  Up close it’s a powerful piece of work with many references, layers of interpretation and significance.

Extraterrestrial: a creature from another world.

Foreign National: legal term for a person living in a country who does not hold citizenship.

Strange or Unfamiliar: An adjective used to describe things that are very different from what you know or are used to. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/alien

French knitting, also called spool knitting, corking, or lucet / tricotin work, is a simple craft that uses a small hollow spool with pegs or nails around the top. It turns yarn into a long, continuous knitted tube or cord (often called an I-cord) using a small hook or needle. The term French Knitting is said to have been coined by French revolutionists, whose rustic hats were made on similar looms, just with many more pegs for a larger tube. https://paulineconolly.com/2024/french-knitting-a-tribute/

*EPDM is an extremely durable synthetic rubber roofing membrane (ethylene propylene diene terpolymer) widely used in low-slope buildings in the United States and worldwide. Its two primary ingredients, ethylene and propylene, are derived from oil and natural gas.  https://epdmroofs.org/what-is-epdm/