Danebury (2014) is the result of a focus on the landscape after being heavily influenced by Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts 'Edgelands', and also Mike Perry's 'London Brownfields'. An inspirational quote hidden within the 'Wasteland' chapter of 'Edgelands' is ‘This whole area was once deciduous forest – Shakespeare's forest of Arden – they are also picking up fainter taste signals from the earth, it’s older seed store, the deep memory of place’ (Farley, Symmons Roberts 2011, P.147).
This sentence jumped at me and set off vivid imaginings of discovering what once was, much like an archaeologist. These imaginings combined with a recent discovery of a book entitled 'Secret Landscapes' set me off on numerous trips of discovery. I mainly focussed on historical landscapes featured within the book and other sites locally. It was during these trips I noticed the way in which the land has healed from these ancient structures but they still bare the scars from them.
It was through the visiting of numerous sites that led me to Danebury. Perched upon a hill commanding serene views of the surrounding countryside is the hill fort. It is a place steeped in history and I could sense this on my first visit. It is now mostly hidden from view due to the growth of trees. However once inside this containment of trees the man-made workings are obviously apparent. It is this sense of seclusion and isolation that first attracted me here. It is though you have stepped into another realm. The site reminded me of the old man-made structures being reclaimed by nature in Perry's work. However the structures at Danebury have undergone centuries of repossession by nature. It is this evolution of nature and traces of past activity I aim to include in my imagery.
Left to Right:
Danebury 1 - 2014
Danebury 2 - 2014
Danebury 3 - 2014
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