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Of Memory And Ink
66x127cm, Mixed Media on Panel
Framed
See Price
£2100
About this painting
“Memory is more indelible thank ink“
Anita Loos
While imagining a title for this piece, I happened across this quote. Most likely expressed by the screenwriter and playwright in reference to the workings of the pen versus their lasting impression on her audiences; nevertheless, I thought it aptly related to my thoughts around this piece. The words ring of the general impermanence of wildlife and their vulnerability to the changes we as a species are inflicting on this planet. While octopuses are not the most threatened of all species, with escalating climate breakdown, warming of oceans and degradation of marine environments, they too could soon be endangered, or worse.
Others contend the exact opposite, to lament the evanescence of words spoken and felt, otherwise lost and never to be known again, or praise the power of the pen in committing art, thoughts, moments and emotions to history. Rather, it is the outlasting of memory by ink and that which is permanent, tangible and enduring. Tales and wisdom passed down through generations can easily become distorted over time. Shifting baselines in our knowledge of wildlife populations pose a serious problem for conservation and efforts to restore them to previous numbers, and so hard, written records are becoming increasingly important.
As rates of extinction increase, and the escalating risk of losing species altogether, if we do not act quickly, for many all that will be or all that is now left of them is our memory.
This piece was shortlisted for the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation’s Wildlife Artist of the Year Competition 2021.
Adrift
60x33cm, Mixed Media on Panel
Framed
See Price
£800
Elder
110x46cm, Mixed Media on Panel
Unframed
SOLD
About this painting
One of the things that strikes me most about jellyfish is their age. Evolutionarily-speaking, they, along with their closest related phyla and sub-phyla, are the oldest of all multicellular animals on Earth. The oldest ancestors of modern day jellyfish lived at least 500 — maybe as long as 700 — million years ago!
Knowing that, their gentle beauty and grandeur, drifting freely across our oceans and waters, becomes even more profound. They have seen it all. While the Earth has changed drastically and unrecognisably over the best part of an eon and millions of other species have come and gone, they have endured. And they continue to watch by as we now push our environment to its limits and inflict destruction at unprecedented rates. They are the true natives of our planet; we barely a blip in their long, prevailing lives.
A great level of perspective, reflection and peace may be taken then from considering the jellyfish — moments treasured, appreciating them in the unworldly silence of a fleeting encounter beneath the waves. They are our elders, and we should respect them so.
Embers
60x33cm, Mixed Media on Panel
Framed
See Price
£800
About this painting
Up-cycling and remodelling of old work has been common in the realisation of my pour-painting pieces. With ‘Embers’, I tried at first to force the painting into another jellyfish but it just wasn’t going my way. Nevertheless, with freedom of imagination and nature as one’s muse, there are endless possibilities! Those chance shapes and textures instead lent brilliantly to this woodland blaze. It may have taken some time, but eventually I could see a prophetic, mystical fire, an ethereal and unworldly glow. I can now almost hear the fracture of the wood and canopy as it succumbs and the flickering crackle and pop of the flames clawing at the sky.
The mesmerising patterns remind me of being captivated by a campfire, watching embers drifting up into the air on a warm summer’s night, like fireflies glowing in the dark. I often think of them like seeds floating on a breeze spreading life to new lands.
But this symbol carries a warning, too. From a seed may sprout life; embers spell danger, and with them falls destruction and chaos. Climate breakdown has allowed ferocious and uncontrollable forest fires to sweep across landscapes, scorching the earth and decimating wildlife, ecosystems and communities. Death and desolation have lain in their wake. Striking, therefore, is the contrast between the delicacy and grace of these tiny embers, lighter than air, and the raw and powerful beast that they can swiftly bear. They invoke both the beauty of life and a sombre reality of the continued devastation that awaits if we do not act.
Reef Dreaming
62x30cm, Mixed Media on Panel
Framed
See Price
£1100
The pouring process involves a degree of trial and error, a balance between intention and chance. I may start with a purpose, an idea that I work loosely towards, but sometimes I let the movement and fluidity of the paint lead the way. Like a Rorschach, I then study the shapes and patterns created and what natural forms and ideas come into mind.
It’s not always plain sailing. Sometimes the paint refuses to flow in the ways I want and form the shapes I intended or can work with afterwards. Sometimes the colours blend and go murky, the patterns ebb away over time and don’t dry quite as captivating as they looked when wet. There can be a lot of mopping up and starting over — it’s a messy business!
Adding in the depth and detail then completely transforms the piece and the vision in my head slowly starts to take shape. While the oils bring the painting to fruition, it’s the organic forms created by the acrylic that serve as the real structure and foundation of the piece and render some semblance to the endless designs of nature. The mesmerising, complex patterns and bright cells give additional life and luminescence to the paintings and draw you in to discover the finer gems each have to offer.
Disney Art
Rafiki’s Tree
14x32cm, Mixed Media on Panel
Unframed
SOLD
Second Star to the right
20x20cm, Mixed Media on Panel
Unframed
SOLD
I had loads of fun creating these two miniature Disney-themed paintings! Both I made working onto small pour-painting studies I had done previously in preparation for my jellyfish. For ‘Second Star to the Right’, I imagined a swirling cluster of galaxies and nebulae, and something sailing across a celestial ocean that eventually manifested the infamous Jolly Roger! For ‘Rafiki’s Tree’, I could envisage the view looking down through a baobab canopy, veins of roots twisting through the earth and ancient strata shifting beneath savanna and a starry African sky. The last little additions that gave the nod to Disney were enough to bring that final spark of magic to finish off each piece.
NATHAN HAMMOND 