“The notion of a rising horizon is both evocative and timely. Sea levels are rising. This new global phenomenon needs our attention. Cass’s series of paintings creatively pose the topic from dozens of diverse perspectives, upon a variety of supports. Despite appearing to be playful in form, these paintings act as a kind of miniature icepick to the brain, raising awareness.”

“The horizon, so often muted in earlier art to make it recede properly, has here become a clarion call, a marker of a proportionality that is also a threat to coastlines, as the titles indicate by giving percentages by which the water level might rise through polar ice melt.”

“The cumulative effect [is] to make the viewer subtly but constantly aware of sea level, not as an immutable thing – the mean high-water mark that appears on Ordnance Survey maps – but as something that is in a constant state of flux...”

“The reformed plastic and metal objects which [Cass uses here] are a new departure for an artist who has made much of his previous work of, on and from found wood. Sometimes the recycling is not only in the use of the material as a surface upon which to paint, but a reuse of the object itself, as with his use of the oil paints in a 100 year old artist’s box, to paint on its deconstructed exterior. The links with his theme are telling.”

“Sea rise is a very real threat to millions, yet in his beautiful and inspired repurposing and reuse of materials David Cass illuminates an alternative future. A future where the products we consume have lives beyond landfill sites. A future where resources are part of a circular economy, one that recognizes their value and the true cost of their waste.

The horizon is rising. Just how far is now down to us.”