James Epps
With scattered red, green and brown: Reimagining Roman Mosaic Fragments in North-East England Collections through Contemporary Art Practice and Creative Writing
Fine Art Postgraduate Researcher
Supervisors: Professor Catrin Huber and Dr Giles Bailey
Using artistic practice, this project examines and reimagines mosaic fragments from across the Roman world now held in North East Museums. Roman mosaics differentiate space, engage the eye, and draw the viewer through the architecture in which they are placed.
The project re-envisions and celebrates the fragments held in North-East collections to consider afresh the spatial and decorative function of pattern within architectural spaces. Through contemporary installations and writing this research project reflects upon the multiplicity of possibilities that the fragments held in North East Museums contain. These mosaic fragments can be viewed through a variety of contexts and uses such as functional flooring in-situ, to museum artefacts, souvenirs or the imagined playthings of archaeologists.
This research project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Solo Exhibitions and Projects:
A twist of the Hand, Cambridge Museum of Classical Archaeology, 2021
Off prompt, The Playhouse, Norwich, 2019
With an eye to, 13A St Augustine's Street, Norwich, 2016
Here on in, exterior wall painting on Eyre Lane, Bloc Projects, Sheffield, 2015
Just like that, OUTPOST, Norwich, 2014
Image caption: Talk of the town, Newcastle University, 2025. Documentation of the ancient fragments is kindly supported by North East Museums.
