Stories of Discovery
Multiplate Collagraph Prints inspired by the Burial Mounds at Wash Common, Newbury.
In 2021 I was awarded a Develop Your Creative Practice grant by the Arts Council England to develop my multiplate collagraph printing technique, with mentoring by artist Frances Hatch.
Under Frances guidance, I started walking and drawing in areas surrounding my home, trying to look afresh at the spaces I encountered, drawing first, mark-making with found objects, collecting found objects on the walks, letting the spaces influence my mood. Slowly, this repetitive meandering led me to a specific site in Wash Common with a particular appeal as it is an old site of archaeological interest. It has five burial mounds dating from the Bronze Age, including a ring mound, a large bowl barrow with a small ditch and three smaller bowl barrows.
What Lies Beneath - framed 58 x 58 cm
What Lies Beneath (henge) - framed 58 x 58 cm
What Lies Beneath (mounds) - framed 58 x 58 cm
What Flies Above I - framed 53 x 53 cm
What Flier Above II - framed 53 x 53 cm
What Flier Above III
Flying Free - mounted
Barrows and Pathways
Rooted I - framed 58 x 58 cm
Beneath the Roots - framed 53 x 53 cm
Rooted II
Remains of the Day - framed 58 x 58 cm
Remains of the Day II
Underground I - framed 58 x 58 cm
Flying Above (ka ka ka) - Sold
Flying Above II - ka ka - mounted
Remains - framed 40 x 40
Remains Beneath - framed 40 x 40 cm
Discarded Remains - framed 40 x 40 cm
Remains Hidden and Found - framed 40 x 40 cm
Stories of Discovery (continued)
A small woodland borders the site with a rookery high up. In the silence of the space the rook calls are strong and persistent.
A few collections, of plates, of prints and found objects started appearing in the studio and the stories of the prints presented here slowly emerged.
The prints reference the trees, the birds, what is above as well as what is on the ground, leaves, feathers and various litter, found objects, and what is beneath the ground, hidden treasures, old archaeological finds, tree roots.
They explore the relationships between the various layers, the sky and the ground; how permanent are they despite the variation of inhabitants, of dwellers of the space.
The prints tell their intertwined stories.
The plates can mix objects of the past, axe or arrowheads with current discarded treasures, a lost key or a lighter, all layered in the same ground. The ground and the trees bear witness as the rooks fly noisily by.
They are ever changing stories, all unique and equally all passing. If you told them, instead of me, the stories would be different, as other objects will catch your attention and you will focus on something else.
Life is open to personal interpretation
