Angela YT Chan 
(August 5, 2023 → October 22, 2023) I created two digitally illustrated collage banners as a new temporary site-specific public artwork that communicates the local environmental activities taking place to mitigate flooding and coastal erosion. Over the summer, I worked with the Environment Agency’s Catchment to Coast Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme (FCRIP) project to visually and creatively map the nature-based solutions being used across Southend and Thurrock’s varied landscapes that are facing the impacts of the changing climate.
Waterscapes On Land (2023) is my two-part project that is newly commissioned by Focal Point Gallery (Southend-on-Sea, UK), in partnership with the Catchment to Coast project. Led by Southend City Council, it is one of 25 projects within the Environment Agency’s Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme (FCRIP).
These banners form part 1, while part 2 is a video artwork that will be on show on the Big Screen Southend from the 30th September 2023 to 6th January 2024, as part of the exhibition ‘Storm Warning: what does climate change mean for coastal communities?’ The exhibition is a collaborative two venue project in partnership with Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange, Penzance, which seeks to raise awareness of the impact of the climate crisis on coastal communities in South Essex and Cornwall.
(Exhibition text)
“Meandering through a map of hydraulic catchments, Angela YT Chan’s video work, Waterscapes on Land, 2023, follows the water’s flow towards its destination of the coast, before restarting its cycle as rain. It interacts with several waterscapes through nature-based solutions and hydro-activities. The illustrative style inspired by geography textbook diagrams is made playful by a pastel palette that collages digital drawings, animation, and photographic and generated media. This video work is a continuation of Chan’s Railway Bridge Commission for Focal Point Gallery on display on Southend High Street until 22nd October, in partnership with the ’Catchment to Coast’ project. Led by Southend City Council, this project is one of 25 projects within the Environment Agency’s Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme (FCRIP).
Chan’s artwork focuses on six different sites covered by the project across upper, middle, and lower hydraulic catchments, which encompass areas like woodlands, allotment sites, domestic gardens, and sections of coastline. Each location will use a unique combination of nature-based solutions, such as leaky dams and bespoke rainwater capture to be re-used as part of soil and landscape management techniques. In addition, a series of surface water flood warning beacons will be installed to improve warnings to communities, so they are better prepared to respond and recover. Hydro-citizenship will play a large role in delivering these measures across the catchments, giving the community the opportunity to get involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of these innovative measures. Hydro-citizenship is being water smart as an individual and within your community, reducing pressure on the local sewage system and improving resilience to flooding in local neighbourhoods.
Visually mapping these sites, the artist takes us through Southend and Thurrock’s varied landscapes that are facing the impacts of our changing climate. In particular, the artworks explore the timelines and activities of pioneering, nature-based solutions that relate to how we take care of land, public and private, and how we improve resilience from flooding and coastal erosion.”
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Image: Anna Lukala, installation views of Angela YT Chan, ‘Waterscapes on Land’, Railway Bridge Commission 2023. Courtesy Focal Point Gallery.