The Mater Podcast

This is a conversation with Verity Babbs (art historian and comedian) about Arsenic - which is a naturally occurring element that is toxic to humans. Arsenic is used in many traditional pigment recipes, and ended up being used widely during the Victorian era in paintings, clothing and wallpaper.

If you are interested in people and the stories that make us human, then this is a conversation for you.

Often the odd quirks of people can be forgotten through history, because it they don’t fit with a narrative around their work. But for Verity the often challenging aspects of people’s personalities is what makes her understand them as actual humans.. And in the case of arsenic the figure we are focussing on is the designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist William Morris, often associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement, whose incredibly famous wallpaper once contained arsenic based pigments.

Verity Babbs is a Presenter, Art Historian & Comedian. Her work focuses on making art history more accessible and bringing laughter into cultural spaces. She is the author of ‘The History of Art in One Sentence’ which was published by Bloomsbury in 2025. And is the founder of Art Laughs live art-themed comedy events which frequently perform at the National Gallery. She graduated with a History of Art Degree from the University of Oxford and was named one of BBC HistoryExtra's '30 Under 30' in 2024.

Links
Verity Babbs on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veritybabbsart/
Art Laughs: https://www.veritybabbs.com/art-laughs
The History of Art in One Sentence: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/history-of-art-in-one-sentence-9781526686893/
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Today’s conversation is all about Salvage.. Which is the finding, rescuing & gathering of materials and objects that have had a previous life, and might otherwise be discarded.

My guests are Tim Ralston, director of the art residency PADA Studios and an artist himself, working primarily with wood.

Alice Bonnot is an independent art curator, and environmental sustainability consultant, who has been working with PADA in an ongoing project to become more sustainable and reduce their carbon footprint. Alice is the founder of Villa Villa - a platform & consultancy ‘advocating for climate-conscious arts’

We recorded this conversation at the PADA residency site which is located a short ferry and walk from Lisbon city centre, in a former industrial park with roots dating back to 1885. I was also lucky to take part in the residency in 2023.

I was so excited to speak about Salvage because it’s an idea that so many of the artists I speak to connect with. There are so many practical benefits for this - but one of the most compelling reasons outlined today is because salvaged materials are imbued with this incredible social layer which connects us to human histories. Through salvage we discuss material memory, craft, care, the preservation of the resources we have, as well as thinking about why things are wasted, over-consumption, and some very insightful ways that we can break away from this habit.

Tim: https://www.instagram.com/tim.ralston/
Alice: https://www.instagram.com/bonnota/
PADA: https://www.padastudios.com/
Villav Villa: https://villavilla.co/
Environmentally Sustainable Artist Studio Practices: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QaR74WWopZtIefHqDhXeGCR764aVAUNN/view
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Instagram
Lucy’s website

Lucy Mayes has been making pigments and paints since 2018 and has taught the craft since 2020. She is the founder of London Pigment - a project making pigment from waste stream materials. We also discuss her book -The Natural Pigment Handbook: A Maker’s Guide to the Art, Stories and Recipes for Creating Paint - published in 2025. We recorded this conversation earlier this year in Lucy’s public studio and shop in Portsmouth's historic Hotwalls Studios.
Pigment Making is officially recognised as an endangered craft on the Heritage Craft red list. Lucy writes “Every hand-made pigment carries within it a chain of knowledge linking geology, landscape, chemistry, art and history, making the preservation of the craft about far more than simply producing colour.” And this what i think is so significant about her way of working - this work speaks to our connection with place, history, the materiality of colour, what it is to engage with a heritage craft, all through the act of making pigments.

The Natural Pigment Handbook, Lucy Mayes
We spoke about the artist Michelle Stuart
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APPLY to Joya AiR + Mater residency (plus info and terms & conditions): https://joya-air.org/joya-mater-apply

Joya: AiR is a landmark international, interdisciplinary arts residency grounded in the intersection of creative practice, ecological inquiry, and sustainable cultural engagement. Situated within an off‑grid, climate‑positive environment in rural Andalucía, the residency fosters an intellectually rigorous and generative context where artists, writers, and researchers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds can deepen their practice, expand critical perspectives, and engage collaboratively with ecological and cultural challenges.
Joya AiR website: https://joya-air.org/
Joya AiR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joya_air/

Mater is an evolving research & publishing project founded by Maddie Rose Hills, exploring our relationship with materials through commissioned writing, interviews, exhibitions, and podcasting. Mater brings together artists, geologists, architects, curators, ecologists, gardeners and writers, investigating what draws us to particular materials, the stories materials hold, and how they shape our lives.
Mater website: https://mater.digital/
Mater on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mater________/

Email me with any questions: info@maddierosehills.co.uk

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My two guests are completely passionate about the subject of Minerals... artist Mále Uribe and writer/geoloist Marcia Bjornerud

Mále Uribe is a Chilean architect and artist whose work explores material culture, the value of natural resources, myths, chemical properties, industrial processes and microworlds. As designer in residence at London’s Design Museum in 2019, her installation Salt Imaginaries focused on the extractive processes around minerals located in the Atacama desert in Chile. and her 2025 Somerset House installation for the Chilean Pavilion at London Design Biennale was a investigation of minerals from the Andes titled’ Minerasophia: Underground Cycles. In her work materials are understood as vibrant and autonomous entities that carry a transformative power.

Male suggested Marcia Bjornerud for this podcast.. Marcia is a structural geologist whose research focuses on the physics of earthquakes and mountain building. Bjournerud has written several books including Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks, and Timefulness: How thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World. She is a Fellow of the Geological Society and a contributing writer to The New Yorker, Wired, the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times..

Marcia Bjornerud
https://www.lawrence.edu/people/marcia-bjornerud-walter-schober-professor-of-environmental-studies-and-professor-of-geosciences
Emergence essay, Wrinkled Time: https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/wrinkled-time/
Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks. Book by Marcia Bjornerud
Timefulness: How Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World. Book by Marcia Bjornerud

Mále Uribe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estudio.male/?hl=en
Salt Imaginaries, London Design Museum: https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/designersinresidence2019cosmic/salt-imaginaries-by-mle-uribe-fors
Minerasophia, Chile Pavilion and Design Biennale, Somerset House: https://londondesignbiennale.com/pavilions/2025/chile

'La Medula' Poem by Ursula le Guin (referenced by Male): https://www.instagram.com/p/BuqP-zPl8xb/
Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Book by Jane Bennett

Mater
https://mater.digital/
Find more images from our conversation on the Mater instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mater________/?hl=en
Get in touch: info@maddierosehills.co.uk

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