Fertile Ground - Introduction
Works in this group incorporate the form of a hollow head as a source of magical activity. Although this has been a long-standing theme within my work, the underlying image of the skull was taken from a plastic model that lay broken and unnoticed in the workshop until drawn from for this series.
In Fertile Ground, the open form of the head becomes a type of bone urn, a dead, inanimate ditch from which spirits are conjured. A series of large works combines the mediums of woodcuts printed onto the canvas as well as oil paint, so as to emulate the transference from one material state to another. The woodcut prints were applied in many layers.
Works produced within Fertile Ground were divided into four main series: Rising Stone explored the form of the head as a weightless thing, like a jellyfish; From the Underturned Stone utilised the image of a toad that clambers up from its subterranean resting place; Mind's Eye depicts sight as an interior bloom; and Undergrowth presents the growth structures of a range of plant forms that evolve from the underlying seed of the head.
The four series related to Fertile Ground may be explored by clicking on the links below.
Explore this theme
1. Introduction (You Are Here)
2. Rising Stone
4. Mind's Eye
5. Undergrowth