construction, mixed media, 60cm x 60cm
Iain White 1967 & 2009
£300 SOLD
This construction represents variation in the relative altitude of a section of the intensively glaciated “knochan and lochan” topography on Lewisian Gneiss (the oldest rock outcropping in the UK) in northwest Sutherland. It is of course highly stylised by the restrictions imposed by deploying a grid. The nature of this environment is further captured by the use, not of the rock itself, but of the mineral fraction of the soil. So, weathered mineral particles have been separated from soil organic matter, which has been oxidised by hydrogen peroxide, and dispersed across the surface of the grid. The pattern roughly corresponds to soil variation across the landscape.
The result is an apparently abstract work based on a rectangular grid. Its surface texture/relief, the colours and the mineral grains all combine to generate an aesthetic experience. However, at the same time the piece is an attempt to embody the spirit of a particular ‘place’ by isolating two elements that give it its character.
