# Project Description

What is price of beauty? The forgotten story of arsenic

Terrye Teverson

Summary

Final work

A Cornish based artist who brings long-forgotten stories of social injustice to life via oil paint, stone-carving, installation and film.  Research in archives and books is an essential first step to finding a story that resonates.  My current body of work is based on arsenic a by-product of tin and copper mining.  It was used to create the green pigments used in William Morris's wallpapers from the mid 19th century.  What does beauty really cost?

A Cornish based artist who brings long-forgotten stories of social injustice to life via oil pain...

College Central Saint Martins

Course MA Fine Art: Digital

Graduation year 2025

As an artist and researcher I spend a lot of time in archives searching for long-forgotten stories.  The start of my practice may be from a throwaway comment or remembered thought from my childhood in Cornwall.  The research is a vital part of finding characters who struggled from social injustice in their lives.  My current body of work focuses on the by-product arsenic mined from the tin and copper mines prevalent in Cornwall's history until its last tin mine shut in 1998. During my research I visited Botallack tin mine on the cliffs in West Cornwall.  Young boys used to scrape the arsenic powder from the roofs of the arsenic labyrinths (1tsp kills 6 men) while covering their face and mouths with kerchiefs and clay.  Life was short and hard. At the same time William Morris the designer used the strong green pigments gained by using arsenic in his wallpaper designs.  "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful" is attributed to William Morris. As a shareholder in a tin mine I wonder if he gave thought to the child labour used to extract this deadly poison that was used in the making of something beautiful.

Final work

Mrs William Garland

Polyphant stone carving of woman's head

Woman and blue birds

Aluminum board overpainted with oil paint 1m x 1m

Hands

Three plaster of Paris hands with inserted oxidised copper rods and granite stands. 2m overall height. 3 individual stands.  Representing the children's hands used to scrapping the surface of the arsenic labyrinths.

Collage of Botallack tin mine

Digital image of found 19 century image of tin mine and collaged William Morris wallpaper

Research and process

Unearthing forgotten stories of Arsenic

Arsenic 5’ film - showing my practice and processes.

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As an artist and researcher I spend a lot of time in archives searching for long-forgotten stories.  The start of my practice may be from a throwaway comment or remembered thought from my childhood in Cornwall.  The research is a vital part of finding characters who struggled ...

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