Sometimes this re-presentation will become a 2D or 3D solid form, at others it manifests itself as an intervention I make directly within the landscape, the results of which will be ephemeral and temporary, with the documentation being the only trace of the work.

I also use research to investigate the thought processes and resolutions other artists employ. I tend to utilize this type of research in two ways; I read a lot of transcripts of artists’ interviews and their writings, as I find this enables my imagination to develop ideas without the restrictions of images of their work. Once I have an idea of how I wish to develop a piece of work, I then view images of the work of others. Visiting galleries and attending artists’ talk is a vital diversion from the studio environment and often gives a great insight into the work of others, which undeniably, influences and affects my work.

Above all, to place myself into the landscape by staying in a tent in a remote area, is the most empirical kind of research I undertake and one that is the most influential and embodying. To distance myself away from the familiar company and comfortable surroundings of home, I challenge myself to explore and respond to new environments. In this way, the individual elements of the landscape all take on their own importance, rather than as a collective whole of the constructed term ‘Landscape’.

CEM 05/2010

Nature relies on regularly occurring cycles, rhythms and of repetition, the forces of motion, magnetism, gravity and light and their effects on the elements; Air, Water, Earth, Rock all combine to create the landscape and the environment in which it lies. It is easy to become overawed and overwhelmed by the sheer strength, scale and power of the landscape and of Nature itself. The futility of depiction has challenged artists for millennia, but for what purpose? Visual gratification? Escapism? Sentimentality? Elitism? Nostalgia? All egocentric activities of a self-important populace that places the landscape at the behest of human-kind.

My work stems from appreciation and inquisitiveness, a quest for understanding my place within the environment and a desire to portray that, which is assumed, expected, taken for granted or simply ignored.

In a time of information overload, can sense be made of an environment reduced to statistics? Is the realisation of data into something visual, tangible, physical or even meaningful a possibility? These are the questions I constantly ask and challenge myself to answer.

CEM. 02/2010

Art, Space, Nature www.asn.eca.ac.uk

Bridgehouse Art, Ullapool www.bridgehouseart.co.uk

Intermedia Art, Edinburgh College of Art www.intermedia.eca.ac.uk

Edinburgh College of Art (eca) www.eca.ac.uk

Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh www.inglebygallery.com

an Talla Solais, Ullapool Visual Arts www.antallasolais.org

An Lanntair Arts Centre, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis www.lanntair.com

The Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney www.pierartscentre.com

Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh www.fruitmarket.co.uk

Timespan Museum and Arts Centre, Helmsdale, Sutherland www.timespan.org.uk

Highlands and Islands Arts www.hi-arts.co.uk

Concrete Wardrobe. Broughton Street, Edinburgh www.concretewardrobe.co.uk

Tate www.tate.org.uk

Matt Roberts Arts www.mattroberts.org.uk

Artists Network (an) www.a-n.co.uk

ASCUS - Art Science Collaborative www.ascus.org.uk

The Henderson Gallery, Edinburgh www.thehendersongallery.com

Lotte Glob, Ceramic Artist www.lotteglob.co.uk

Joseph Calleja, Artist, Edinburgh / Malta www.josephcalleja.co.uk

Natalie Wilson, Artist, Edinburgh nataliewilson.eu

Whitechapel Gallery, London www.whitechapelgallery.org

Jupiter Artland, Sculpture Gardens, Edinburgh www.jupiterartland.org

Little Sparta: Gardens of Ian Hamilton Finlay www.littlesparta.co.uk

Starscape LED lighting www.starscape.co.uk