The Painting of the Land,

 

“The Issue Is not one of having the apposite experience but of creating the appropriate representation of experience”

 

Kenneth Clark

 

Clark’s premise references the role of the landscape painter, in that one’s responsibility is to create, the most strikingly appropriate representation of the experienced environment. The act of painting the land requires the artist to elaborate upon the Topographic (Formal) and Decorative (Material) qualities, and establish the extent to which these two elements are manipulated.

 

The first phase of working with the land, personally originates in the form of en situ landscape painting. This allows for a connection with the formal features of the land, in order to approximate a structure. In the studio there is a contrasting decorative approach, employing elements concerning texture, colour, mark making and a journeying towards a dynamic abstraction.

 

The land prescribes representation, if we envisage the land associated with Jean Paul Sartre's ethos “Totality Detotalized”

 

How could one single person possibly capture the entirety of humanity? I constantly return to and revise my perspective and reflection upon the land, as it cannot be conceived of as a ‘sum of its parts’ methodology, therefore it demands multiple representations.

 

There is a challenge of taming the encompassing enormity of the land, into something more tangible, delicate and approachable. The landscape offers a constant change in conditions, perspectives, and narratives, ensuring the scope for depiction is considerable and in consequence the narration infinite.