On 23rd September 2021 a new exhibition opens at the Mill Bridge Gallery, Skipton.
‘Lie of the Land’ features drawn and sculptural pieces by Grassington artist Mark Butler, inspired by walks taken near to his home. Each journey, and each resulting piece, highlights something different, and together they reflect on his ongoing experiences and relationship with his local area.
Mark’s sculptures are wall mounted pieces in cast bronze with the addition of some steel and lead. His drawings use burning, gunpowder and rust printing as well as more conventional ink drawing.
His ‘Ash Map’ series record the plight of ash trees in Grass Woods due to ash dieback, ‘Walking Treasures’ drawings link together the experience of place, created by stopping and taking notice of small features in a landscape, with the journey taken between these places.
Maps are a significant part of the way he experiences the landscape: visualising where he wants to go, navigating, recording his journeys. Maps tie this exhibition together and Mark uses their universal language to draw viewers in and invite them to explore his work.
Mark says:
‘My work aims to express the fragments of remembered views and experiences built up by travelling through my local landscape. I also highlight my concerns about the ecology of the areas I travel through and their fragile nature. Although I am using metal in my sculptures – a markedly permanent material – I harness chance by using wood or thin wax originals in my castings to create imperfect and fractured pieces, mirroring the impermanence and vulnerability of the environment around me.’
The exhibition is open Thursdays – Saturdays 11-4pm, from 23rd September to 16th October 2021, at the Mill Bridge Gallery in Skipton.
