Collection: Tom Scotcher
"I am a painter and printmaker based in Brighton. I completed my Postgraduate Diploma from the Royal Drawing School in 2017. I have recently been awarded a grant from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation to produce a body of work for a solo exhibition in May 2024. I am currently cycling out into the rough edges of the Sussex countryside and attempting to make paintings that go some way to imitate the sensation of being totally immersed in the landscape.
There are two main threads that I am following; the exposed hedgerows and climbing roses in the open fields and the dense thicket of the wood. These two motifs represent two aspects of the British landscape, places and spaces, the known and unknown, the familiar terrain of grazed farmland and the beguiling mystery of the unknown woodland.
Working directly from observation in the outdoors is imperative to my process. When I paint in the open fields, I tend to stay in the shade of the hawthorns and climbing roses. They have a mystery to them like ancient standing stones but also seem to have sprung up overnight. Their silhouetted branches take on recognisable forms, with twisted trunks and gnarled branches, they are threatening and conjure stories of wanderers getting lost and swallowed up by the wood. This fear reflects a distance from nature that I am keen to explore.
The thicket represents the seemingly untouched habitat of ancient beliefs and stories, before over grazing and intensive agriculture mutilated the landscape. Within folklore there is an acute attention given to seasonality and of time passing, we are encouraged to observe the world around us and see that it is all in flux.
As a painter of landscapes, I am aware that I am working within a rich tradition, but I feel I have a perspective that is my own and I am hoping to convey this with clarity and honesty. I believe that by painting nature, there is an opportunity to rebuild a sense of connection, relevance and enduring importance with the land."
