Skip to main content

Return of the Rivers / Spell against Sorrow

Paul Highnam

Dimensions
6 seats (360cm x 90cm x 90cm) each

Courtesy of
Wessex Water Services Ltd

Two sets of three modular seats of solid limestone blocks for courtyard gardens, featuring lines of poetry from 'The Return of the Rivers' by Richard Brautigan and 'Spell against Sorrow' by Kathleen Raine. The text is carved into the stone seats, and refers to the nature of water.

Paul Highnam

E58na51kmecppdibouevca Bettina Furnee

Witness

Lines of Approach

Collective

Join Axis

We support artists

Funding, visibility, connection and practical help. 

Membership includes £15 million of Public Liability Insurance!

Axis is an independent charity, funded by our members. 
Become a Member

OPEN: £50,000 directly to artists.

Axis Artist Awards 2026

The Axis Artist Awards support artists to develop their practice, test ideas, make work and keep going. 

Learn more