Recovered from Saltdean beach, this discarded oar is transformed into a seascape painted directly onto the blade that once propelled movement through water.

An object designed for navigation and momentum becomes a reflection on direction itself: how we orient ourselves, what carries us forward, and how water shapes journeys both literal and emotional.

The title, The Water Gave Us Direction, holds multiple meanings. Water guides coastlines, migration, tides, weather, trade, recreation, memory, and human movement. Yet it also speaks to quieter forms of navigation: intuition, healing, change, and the search for bearings after uncertainty.

Found as marine debris, the oar carries traces of use, loss, and exposure. Reimagined through the language of the sea itself, the object becomes both vessel and metaphor.

Materials:
Discarded oar, found on Saltdean beach, Brighton, mixed media