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Unearthed is an ongoing series, inspired by the landscape at our feet: the natural rocks, the rubble and broken pottery of our ancestors, as well as the lost junk and the precious artefacts buried below. Unearthed through a combination of field-walking and using a metal detector, the process of discovery is a performative act that binds the artist and the land together.

Presented as a collection of found objects free floating on fields of raw canvas, the subsequent compositions evoke the history of the landscape and the melting pot of cultural identity. The discovery, deconstruction and production exist within a liminal space - both at the junction of the past and the present, as well as the threshold of the imagined and the real.

Nature itself plays a critical role: that which is buried, particularly metal, undergoes a form of alchemical transmutation through the natural oxidisation process, creating surfaces of intricate patinas and beauty. These surfaces are recreated through observation and the building up of layers of paint.

The compositions are created using a projector and outlined. Paint is applied using layers of washes, pouring, scraping, and splattering techniques, all of which are sanded and stripped in the end. These methods evolve with the objects and control is given over to chance. Once again, the liminal is present; this time, between abstraction and representation.

© Richard Bartle, all rights reserved.