Dartmoor Patchwork II

Comment

Comment by Kelvin Harvey on February 13, 2013 at 1:56pm

The white lines were initially inspired by an earlier work, called Par Overlook, which is a view of an area of Cornwall, England, which is the centre of 'China Clay' production, so instead of painting the patchwork of fields separated by hedgerows, I imagined the clay underground, it's whiteness implied by it's use in paper making and porcelain. Hidden inside may also be a recent interest in Frank Stella, several of which I saw prior in London, and therefore may have manifest itself subconsciously in the work.

Moorland V, also part of a series, results from many visits out on to Dartmoor, Devon, England, to visit my son at his studio whilst Artist in Residence at Princetown, a small moorland town, it's main claim to fame, is Dartmoor Prison, once a formidable gaol, build in the eighteen century by prisoners of war, and renown in it's day for being a harsh environment, due to the weather and comparative isolation. The moors now offer miles of desolate landscape, filled with the marks of human habitation going back several millenium and in some respects relate to the white lines in Patchwork, due to the marks of ancient pathways and fields.

My work is process based, and can be deeply affected by materials used, Acrylic in patchwork allow quick work and several decisions being made to the quick drying nature of the medium, whilst oil dictates a more considered approach. However my practice ranges across pure abstraction, very intuitive,influenced by music and usually large scale to sculptural ceramics, often with side investigations to other techniques and ideas, in many respects inspired by the likes of Picasso, not wanting to be constrained by a fixed style.

Comment by Resident Curator on January 27, 2013 at 11:26am

Curator’s Comment:

 

I’m very interested in these patchwork landscapes, which compartmentalize and corral organic modulation and texture into smooth, hard edged segments.  The white lines are visually jarring, and create active movement across the articulated landscape, allowing larger swathes of sky to continue uninterrupted.  The systematic enclosing of the landscape also suggests imposition of a kind of artificiality; any atmospheric illusion is destroyed by the equalizing contrast of the even white lines.  Moorland V is a distinctly different approach, with a more traditional sky-ground relationship.  The foreboding gray sky is allowed to hover over the land as if a physical weighted object.  I like how the central peak of the ground rises up to meet a corresponding void in the dense air.  The warmer yellow-green of the grassy foreground is a fresh break from the cooler masses, and provides textural interest.   I’m wondering if there is a relationship between the abstracted, segmented landscapes and this more traditional image. Perhaps one is an outgrowth of the other.  The non-objective paintings in the grouping you’ve posted seem even more disparate stylistically, but then again they could just be further evolved stages in the other conceptual direction.