Heather and Ivan Morison

Cynan Davies is a puppeteer of international repute known for his inventiveness and dark mythic creations. His life and career to date has been an extraordinary journey of shocking hardship and heartbreaking loss.

In Empire of Dirt, a work specially written for him by Heather and Ivan Morison, he tells for the first time his tale and searches for what meaning can be taken from it. Empire of Dirt sees Davies sat atop an umpire's chair, operating new and old mud hand puppets to act out a story of love lost through the slow atrophy of desire in a time of hardship and depression.

Heather and Ivan Morison’s work is performance-based and site-specific, existing as one-off happenings or large-scale sculptural installations in the public realm. They are inspired and fascinated by the natural world and a variety of other activities, from gardening and kite flying, to tree fanaticism and science fiction. Incorporating these activities directly in their work, the artists make their own observations and discoveries, revealed in pieces that include flying sculptures, puppetry performances and architectural constructions.