portfolio > In and out of nature

IN AND OUT OF NATURE

The subjects in this series of paintings and sketches are drawn from the photographic chronicle of a single walk in early 2013 when I was dealing with a personal crisis. Meandering along the paths of a Bay-edge wetland reserve, I encountered monumental clumps of pampas grasses, rampant wild fennel forests, solitary marsh birds, the odd dog walker. Over the following months, I recalled the intensity of my emotions alongside the wonder at the subtle beauty of teeming life and cyclical decay around me. From the white birds with their marked anthropomorphic postures to the exquisitely barren water-logged fields punctuated by tufts of grass, immersing myself in this imagery has been a way of revisiting and commemorating the experience of being in nature alongside the subjectivity that made me a spectator.

Layer (Wild Fennel I)
oil on panel
12 in. x 12 in.
2014
I Think I Will (Grasses I)
oil on panel
12 in. x 12 in.
2014
Seen Slightly (Green Landscape)
oil on panel
12 in. x 12 in.
2014
In Nature I
oil on canvas
48 in. x 30 in.
2014
In Nature II
oil on canvas
48 in. x 30 in.
2014
Pampas Field
oil on panel
12 in. x 24 in.
2014
Pampas Landscape
oil on panel
12 in. x 16 in.
2014
Read Into Me (Pink Bird)
oil and oil bar on panel
24 in. x 20 in.
2014
Mannerism (Green Bird)
oil and oil bar on panel
16 in. x 12 in.
2014