Still Waters

Taking inspiration from water as a source and site of relaxation, Still Waters is an immersive new sound work co-created with a group of 13 young people at Northfleet Technology College in North Kent. 

Artist and sound therapist Cherelle Sappleton, alongside record producer and sound designer Tom Morris, have collaborated with the young people in a number of sessions over a 9-month period to explore meditative sound formations, including attuning to the rhythms of the Thames Estuary, and consider its impact on mental health.

Through field recording trips, sound editing workshops, and autonomous approaches to musical performance, the resulting sound work has emerged out of a process of learning and exchange to help young people examine their relationship to water through an engagement with experimental sound practice. 

Echoing the format of a ‘sound bath’, the installation invites participants to engage with the composition Cherelle, Tom, and the young people have produced in response to Northfleet’s local waterways. It asks how sound practices might be used to create moments of calm and relaxation, while also opening up reflection on the different associations people have with water. 

Still Waters has been commissioned by Cement Fields as part of Sea Like a Mirror and supported by Northfleet Technology College.

Sea Like a Mirror is a partnership project led by Cement Fields, with Art Gene, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, North East Lincolnshire Council & East Marsh United, and Super Culture. Delivered in collaboration with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and supported with public funding from Arts Council England. Presented in Gravesend for Estuary 2025 with Estuary Festival.

With thanks to Adam, Ben, Caleb, Daniel, Dylan, Freddie, Jace, Khai, Kian, Laurie, Lennon, and Usman.