Completed in this peculiar year, the Archaeologies Collection was made in a process of layering up pigments in oil in time order with the oldest pigments at the base building up towards the newest. This seems to work best in oil and is a slow process. and produced a small collection, completed in October.
Some pieces were made layering up pigments where the colour comes from mineral rather than organic sources, some from organic and some from both. They are layered in the order of time with the oldest pigments closest to the canvas and the newest closest to the paint surface just like the earth in an archaeological dig.. Now coated in a final layer of UV protective varnish. This series was started early in lockdown 1. They have taken along time to dry because of the multiple layers of glazes. I have enjoyed the way that colour emerges through colour or blocks colour as a metaphor for historical cultural influences...sometimes we see them and sometimes we have forgotten that they are there, a useful contemporary metaphor.
Hidden within some of the pieces are references to the landscape of my childhood. I was brought up in the South West where there are barrows dotted across the chalk lands, humps and bumps that interrupt the flow of what is largely downland. I remember the car ride when my Mum explained what they were, I was small it was in the 70s when some of the barrows were being excavated. Since that time so much more has been learned.... traces of migrations and cultural practices...influences...treasure.
The main meaning sitting behind these pieces is the way we are influenced by culture directly, culture from our pasts, but also that time is not linear in an easy sense , the way we look at evidence from our past is influenced by our present, and the present is influenced by our past. Sometimes we hide uncomfortable truths, and sometimes a particularly dry year comes along and exposes everything.
All made in 2020C
Some pieces were made layering up pigments where the colour comes from mineral rather than organic sources, some from organic and some from both. They are layered in the order of time with the oldest pigments closest to the canvas and the newest closest to the paint surface just like the earth in an archaeological dig.. Now coated in a final layer of UV protective varnish. This series was started early in lockdown 1. They have taken along time to dry because of the multiple layers of glazes. I have enjoyed the way that colour emerges through colour or blocks colour as a metaphor for historical cultural influences...sometimes we see them and sometimes we have forgotten that they are there, a useful contemporary metaphor.
Hidden within some of the pieces are references to the landscape of my childhood. I was brought up in the South West where there are barrows dotted across the chalk lands, humps and bumps that interrupt the flow of what is largely downland. I remember the car ride when my Mum explained what they were, I was small it was in the 70s when some of the barrows were being excavated. Since that time so much more has been learned.... traces of migrations and cultural practices...influences...treasure.
The main meaning sitting behind these pieces is the way we are influenced by culture directly, culture from our pasts, but also that time is not linear in an easy sense , the way we look at evidence from our past is influenced by our present, and the present is influenced by our past. Sometimes we hide uncomfortable truths, and sometimes a particularly dry year comes along and exposes everything.
All made in 2020C
Archaeologies: The Centre.
Hand mixed oil on canvas.
100x100cm
2020
To give an idea of scale, please watch the slide show below
Telephone02084445173
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sarahneedham@artfromlondonmarkets.com
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