On shaky ground: land, paint and change

For this practice-led research project, painting is the field through which the concept of landscape is explored. The paintings are a response to the contemporary climate of the Anthropocene; the site for the research is the canal network of Greater London and Hertfordshire, which is revealed as aesthetically and materially figurative of this chapter in climate history. As a form of human expression, an artwork can be considered to be a site where knowledge is created and meanings are made (Sullivan, 2010, p. 71). The investigation recognises the very unique properties of artworks, and in particular the ability of painting to communicate pertinent messages regarding evolving climate issues. Materials and processes specific to the site are employed within the research; this disrupts the conventional approach to painting and situates the practice within ‘painting in the expanded field’. The approach to painting developed through this investigation is informed by a novel bringing together of theories. A Romantic sensibility is married with contemporary New Materialism (Bolt, 2004; Bennett, 2010), the concept of slow violence (Nixon, 2011) and the subject of ecological grief (Head, 2016). Together these theories interlace and support a central argument that the paintings produced throughout this project are contemporary ‘earth-life paintings’ (Carus, 2002, p. 119). This thesis articulates the development of the research; analyses and reflects on the body of work which has been produced; and explores the implications of the research. A critical analysis of the practice-led research in addition to the account of methodology illuminates how component elements function in response to the research questions. The reviews of both literature and contemporary practice provide context for the specificity of this research, whilst establishing how this research forms an original contribution to knowledge.