Mother Goose

Artwork series exploring Ma Mère L’Oye by Maurice Ravel

April–September 2025, Glasshouse, Newcastle UK

The Mother Goose series is a group of five mixed-media sound box constructions, created by the artist James Bulley. Each construction is based on one of five movements of
Ma Mère l'Oye, a suite written by French composer Maurice Ravel in 1910.

The five sound boxes incorporate found natural materials, collage, field recordings and music, creating spatial environments that explore the narrative of each movement.

The music for each sound box has been recorded with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, conducted by Dinis Sousa, from specific arrangements of Ravel’s scores created by the artist.

Credits

Artist: James Bulley
Lead artist assistant: Jake Tyler

Artist assistant: Richard Hards

Orchestral recording mixes: Simon Hendry
Amplification design: Max Hunter
Woodwork consultant: Hugo Lamdin
Woodwork consultant: Jamie Barrera

Production:
Mediale: Kate Farrell
Mediale: Tom Higham

Lighting:
With thanks to TMLighting

For Glasshouse:
Producer (Glasshouse) Meena Daneshyar
Head of Digital: Rachel Williams
Royal Northern Sinfonia Conductor: Dinis Sousa
Royal; Northern Sinfonia Orchestra
Orchestral recordist:  Alexander Barnes