All the sea [2012] & All the islands of all the seas [2016]

Kovats’ epic installation All the Sea (2012 – cont) is a stunningly beautiful and poetic work where over 300 glass bottles are assembled onto shelving, bringing together as many of the world’s seas as possible into a single place. Participants responded to the artist’s invitation to submit sea water from throughout the world and every contribution has been included. As such, the work remains resonant of all the stories and journeys that have collided to create it. Though magnificent and celebratory in one sense, Kovats also reveals the absurdity of territorialising the sea and imposing borders. Kovats was also commissioned by the Gallery to create a new series of drawings mapping All the Islands of All the Seas (2016). In this instance, using a single source, The Times Atlas , the artist has made meticulous studies of all of the earth’s islands which are then layered, sometimes 5 or 6 at a time, according to alphabetical order. Kovats employs a strict methodology for indexing the islands to create an alternative map of the world where the specific location of each island within its sea is no longer a factor