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Ground (5)

Created on: Tuesday, April 02, 2024
Ground is part of an ongoing series of works using soils as my pigment. It elevates soil to its aesthetic form revealing its true beauty.

The works are centered on the often-over-looked soil that we walk on, harvest from, and excavate. The word’s origin ‘grund’, is Old English meaning foundation or base.

Soil- the surface of the earth is a link between the rock core and all that lives on it.
But, we have become estranged from soil, separated from food production and the culture that surrounds it. We are often only interested in what soil can provide to us through ownership, and extraction, disregarding it, mistreating it and exploiting it.

Pure soil samples are ground using a pestle and mortar and then used in these paintings. The paintings are then varnished and sealed to prevent any erosion of the surface ('spalling'). The method of working is sustainable. These paintings focus on the powerful visual impact of the varied colors and textures found in a selection of different local soils.

“... the soil of any one place makes its own peculiar and inevitable sense. It is impossible to contemplate the life of the soil for very long without seeing it as analogous to the life of the spirit.” - Wendell Berry (1977), The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture.

Ground is a process of discovery and exploration for me as a scientist and as an artist.
  • Ground 1: Soil, Ash and Rust 24"x 19" (61 x48.3cm)
  • Ground 2: Soil and Rust 24"x 19" (61 x48.3cm)
  • Ground 3: Soil and Ash, 24"x 19" (61 x48.3cm)
  • Ground 2: Soils and Rust, 24"x 19" (61 x48.3cm)
  • Earth blocks: Twenty two earth blocks using soil pigments, rust and ash used in the 'Ground' series. Each block is a cube 2"x 2”x 2” (5x5x5cm)

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