Artist's statement, May 2008
two crosses · eight points · one centre
Angela Findlay

In recent years the focus of my work has been shifting. Having been strongly influenced by the skies and weather found on the western coasts of England and Wales, I became interested in the variety of light, atmosphere and sand to be found around our coastline. From November'05 to September'06 I embarked on a series of journeys to different parts of the UK coast. I chose destinations to literally or symbolically represent the eight points of the compass, and I used the calendar of Christian and Celtic festivals as a structure for the timing of each journey. I also related a specific time of day/night to each place. In this way a map of significance was created that resembled the Wheel of Life, a variation of which can be found in most cultures.

Within this structure of polarities and natural cycles I found a huge freedom.   It enabled me to focus on the essence of each place and the specific time of day/night and year it related to. Using the sand collected in each location along with my signature material, the River Severn mud, I painted a series of paintings whose moods and textures are as diverse as the geology and atmospheres experienced in each place.

These paintings are being shown together for the first time in an exhibition in Stroud - two crosses, eight points, one centre - in June'08 (see Gallery and Diary for details). The paintings will be installed in two vaulted cellars representing the two different crosses that make up the compass.

The exhibition marks a degree of completion as well as new beginnings. The idea of earth (as in soil, mud and sand), holding the memory and stories of a place, intrigues me. As I found on my journeys, the history of an area continues to resonate into our present experience of it. Both literal traces and feelings of what went before can still be discovered, and it is these layers of time and human stories that now inspires me in my work.