Charlotte Price

The broken and bruised plants that edge the ancient pathways of the moorland landscape are ubiquitous yet insignificant in the annals of the plant world. These plants mark the route and reference my presence there. The palimpsest of the landscape surface traces past habitation and on further investigation identifies a social and cultural history existent in this sub layer.

Collected and pressed the plants and fragments of earthy root are printed. The plants will go through the etching press several times but each impression is individual as there is a degree of deterioration at every printing. The plant when subjected to pressure imprints the finest details of its structure. The earthy clods reveal microcosms of nature where the plant matter embedded in the soil compacts nature’s detritus into multiple layers. The dark and grainy tones of the prints suggest antiquity alluding to a Victorian fascination for the natural world.

Although print is the predominant medium of my work I also use drawing and sculptural materials to explore my subject. Experiments using porcelain slip have resulted in the plants acquiring a permanency in three-dimensional form rather than the two dimensions of printmaking albeit of great fragility. The fired pieces disintegrate a little more at each handling reflecting their existence and deterioration on the path.

The thread of the project is a continuum of the idea that nature and the marked landscape fix my presence to the past.

Website: www.charlotteprice-art.com

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