Chris Brook RSW - Artist statement
Living in the Scottish Borders, self-taught, working professionally since 1995.
Painting and printmaking works are essentially land scape driven. Never intended as site specific, instead best described as reinvented retreats, a collection of marks and shapes alluding to the kind of place I would like to find. A place which is within reach and offers solitude, comfort, protection, and shelter.
The starting process for making 2D constructional works begins by sifting through an ever-increasing collection of discarded and disregarded materials, both natural and man-made, selected for their individual qualities, whether that be colour, shape, texture or form.
My attempt, through layering and pairing of countless combinations of these objects is to find an affinity, a natural, complimentary harmony of pieces being brought together for the first time, this in turn will dictate the next step.
Being guided by the materials means that there is never a fixed scale in mind, and finished sizes vary from works which I refer to as token pieces, small in scale, and intricate in construction, through to larger works which present a more totemic quality.
