The Interior Landscape:

Abstract

This solo exhibition further built upon an in-depth period of research that investigated the subject of contemporary photographic representations of landscape within the historical context of 17th – 19th Century landscape painting. The photographs produced as part of this practice based research, drew upon a period of AHRC research leave (2008 - 2009) which investigated ideas of the art historical traditions of the Picturesque movement and the Sublime. Works presented as part of this exhibition also investigated new parameters for the consideration of integrating 3-dimensional elements with the presentation of the photograph, thus devising new exhibition strategies for photography. To this end, the large body of photographic works shown as part of this exhibition were accompanied by two new large-scale installations, which were designed to reflect the qualities of interior space within the context of landscape. In this way the proposition of landscape as a site capable of representing and embodying a psychological space, was explored through the use of installation, utilising motifs readily associated with interior spaces in the form of curtains. The use of the curtain form also served to act as partition, separating one space from another, usually marking the point between interior and exterior space. In this work curtains also embodied ideas of concealment and exposure, private and public, themes prevalent in my research. The use of the curtain form also introduced a sense of theatricality to the exhibition, heightening the atmosphere emanating from my images, which has always been an important aspect of my practice. The choice of materials used in these installations specifically related in colour and texture to particular elements within the photographs, drawing links between the exterior spaces depicted in the imagery and the interior space suggested through the 3-dimensional forms. This exhibition also incorptated a collaborative project with product designers, Designgoat, who developed another 3-dimensional element for this exhibition. This took the form of a bench fabricated from etched glass and beechwood, which was produced as a 3-dimensional response to the fog imagery depicted in the photograph, 'Veil I' (2006), that the bench was designed to relate to in its visual qualities and proximity. Works included in this exhibtion were: 'Forest Entrance (after Jacob Van Ruisdael)' (2002) 40 cm x 50 cm, ‘Morning Landscape’ (2011) 40 cm x 58 cm, 'Flooded Tree (after Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot)' (2006) 40 cm x 50 cm, 'Veil XV' (2008) 122 cm x 152 cm, 'Dead Pool' (2008) 122 cm x 152 cm, ‘The Mournful Inevitability of Lush Summer Greenery as it Fades with the Onset of Winter’ (2012) 122 cm x 152 cm, 'Over, and On and Up II' (2012) 122 cm x 152 cm, 'Stagnant Pool' (2010) 122 cm x 152 cm, 'The Lough IV' (2006) 80 cm x 100 cm, 'The Lough I' (2006) 80 cm x 100 cm, 'The Lough V' (2006) 80 cm x 100 cm, ‘Landscape with Two Tall Trees’ (2012) 122 cm x 152 cm, 'Veil I' (2006) 80 cm x 100 cm, 'Veil IV' (2006) 80 cm x 100 cm, 'The Mound I' (2009) 80 cm x 100 cm, 'The Mound II' (2009) 80 cm x 100 cm, 'Withdrawing Veils of Sound I' (2010) 10 cm x 13 cm, all colour lightjet photographic prints. Edition of three. ‘Another Quality of Melancholy’ (2014) installation, cotton fabric 400 cm x 640 cm, ‘Within Without (after Vito Hannibal Acconci)’ (2014) installation, cotton fabric and steel, 275 cm (h) x 560 cm (c) x 180 cm (r). Designgoat bench in etched glass and beechwood.