HELEN SEAR EXHIBITION WITHIN SIGHT Bristol 23.10.21

This was part of a shared exhibition with 2 distinct series with Robert Darch called Turn to Return. I was interested inDarch’s exhibition The Island, as he made the landscape images as a response to Britain’s vote to leave the European union; interested in that he has used landscape to represent his feelings about a tangible other subject – just as I am contemplating doing in my BOW.

Helen Sear’s series of black and white photographs were made in December 2019 whilst she repeatedly walked a mountain route, Sear says “the photos explore imitation and contagion as forms of magic through repetition and contact…they reveal a path whilst simultaneously denying a view” (Sear, 2021).

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I understand from her exhibition notes that the visual denseness of the trees and the contours of the boulders should lead us on and off of the path, and cause us to ask what lies behind them, however without this narrative I would struggle to find meaning in them. Though in relation to myself intending to use landscape as metaphor it reinforces that an artist’s intention may not be taken on by the viewer.

Reference:

Sear, H (2021) Exhibition notes. Within Sight, Bristol. Centre Space Gallery.

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