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

Forced Containment: In Rosalind’s studio where she was preparing for her exhibition, Stop. Look. Listen. September 2026. We were looking at her piece, Forced Containment, from the ‘Ian’s Waste’ project. It was being presented on a white plinth in the middle of the exhibition area.

The work comprises of Hemp, grown in Lincolnshire processed into wall insulation, and galvanised wire recycled from the electrical wiring, used as was the hemp, in the construction of her new studio.

On that plinth is a large slab of wall insulating hemp bent into a U shape and held, gripped, captured or constrained in place by a network of the binding, knotted wire. It feels like there is a physical struggle, an argument, a trapping of something by a multitude of others and frozen in time.

The dimensions of the work are 44 cm (W) X 50 cm (H) X 60cm (D)

In her studio we discussed the following questions:

How did this piece come about?
During the construction of the studio there were a number of skips of waste. Ian, the builder, by now was fully aware of my ethics of recycling (the former work Alien having been retrieved and recycled), that he was now presenting to me, any materials he thought might be useful.

How did you get going?
There were these piles of insulating blocks of hemp, used in the walls, wire and a lot of other materials. In this case, after a lot of pondering, I could see the possibility of the hemp with the wire in some kind of combination. I liked the dense blocks of the hemp in contrast to the dancing fine linear shapes of the wire. I experimented with tests, which have developed into an ongoing series of which this is one.

Why is this one for display?
It’s the most complete. For me, it’s one of those works which became resolved quite quickly. It has a significance for me.

What is the significance for you?
Well, the series started out as a kind of automatic three-dimensional drawing. That is, I was intuitively combining materials, trying to see how they might work. Sometimes ideas come from my relationship with the material over time. For example, the manipulation of them, the colour, texture, the mass, weight, form, volume and surface. Sometimes I can start with an idea. This can be simply a construction method, or a concept, but often the journey through this process to reach something resolved is a kind of emergence. As was the case here.

The manmade material constraining the natural material speaks to me.

The true significance, in a literal sense, is often private because I don’t want to get in the way of how others might interpret the work.

What do I think?
After discussing the passive nature of hemp wall insulation, the idea that this is simply grown makes me wonder if this contributes to the quiet calm atmosphere in the building or am I just imagining it? Therefore, I kind of feel sorry for the hemp in this sculpture!

It reminds me of the feeling I had when I was young reading Jonathan Swift’s 1726 satirical novel Gulliver’s Travels. In particular, Lilliput, the first of the four voyages.

In the work of Cristo and Jeanne-Claude, particularly for me, the wrapping of the Reichstag, Berlin 1995. It was the covering which seemed to contain within it the murmurings, the voices, the pain, the breath of the past, and the ghosts of my parents’ generation. I felt quite menaced by it. Here, in Forced Containment, the ethical, political arguments and battles are in the open, loud and present now.

Galvanized wire is produced by coating low-carbon steel wire with a protective zinc layer through hot-dip or electro-galvanizing, creating a rust-resistant product essential for fencing, construction, agriculture, and industrial applications.

The wire is preheated to reach galvanizing temperature requirements and treated with flux salts to ensure high adhesion of zinc to the metal surface. This prepares the steel for optimal zinc bonding. https://www.tjwasungen.com/

Hemp, a variety of Cannabis sativa, is cultivated for its versatile uses. Its strong, durable bast fibre is used for making cordage, twine, rope, and coarse fabrics like burlap and canvas. Specially processed hemp fibre can also be used for clothing textiles and even shoes.

Hemp is considered an environmentally friendly crop due to its sustainable cultivation and versatile uses. It requires minimal pesticides and herbicides, and its deep root system helps improve soil health and prevent erosion. Hemp can also absorb significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. https://www.britannica.com/plant/hemp