"My studio tends to be cluttered, messy and chaotic but that’s the way it works best for me. It’s from this chaos that I try to make sense of my world. Always the process."
An Exhibition of Paintings and Ceramics
Artizan is delighted to be welcoming their 2021 bursary winner to the gallery for a 3-week solo show in our main gallery space. A previous exhibitor with us in several group shows, we are looking forward to this dedicated exhibition of his work, providing the opportunity to see works from three series that Rod has been working on over the last few years – Fire Water and Stone.
Rod’s interest in fire stems from when he was a young boy watching his grandfather work at his forge, making wonderful metal forms. The image of the red, orange, and white heat, and the sparks flying has stayed with Rod and most likely accounts for his interest in ceramics and the smoke firings that he does. Along with this creative aspect of fire goes the destructive aspect and smoky detritus left behind.
Works from this series centres around the tragic fire of the Royal Clarence Hotel in Exeter a few years ago. Whilst Rod did not live in Devon at the time, when he moved here, he determined to make some visual statement and record of that event. The ruins had not been totally screened off, so he was able to see inside just enough to make a record of the destruction.
Rod also has an interest in the coast and sea. As with fire, the sea can be benign or aggressive and Rod’s work focuses on those periods when there is an incoming storm, and the rising swell of the water batters the rocks with its power, energy, and sheer relentlessness. The resulting works capture and evoke the drama of the moment.
For the final element in the series Rod draws inspiration from the natural landscape, mainly Dartmoor, with all its natural stone features but also from the urban landscape, old stone buildings and tumbling ruins. Both have surface which have been affected over time by natural forces and it is the weathering, decaying and distressed surfaces that Rod finds visually interesting.
Exhibiting Artists
Practice and Methods
In both his paintings and ceramics, Rod tries to explore the energies and changes that he sees and feels in nature. Most days he will work in his studio or explore an area gathering information in workbooks for future paintings or ceramic forms. Whilst outside, either in the landscape, or on the rocks or in front of an old building somewhere, it is not a topographical approach that he is interested in but rather the energy of the place.
Rod works on heavy duty watercolour paper 300ib, layering paint, washes and mark making. The images that are generated are only part of the process. Memories of the activity, the looking experience, the feelings, and emotions are as essential to Rod as any mark making done on the spot.
In the studio Rod attempts to re-engage with the experiences gathered over time and place. Whereas the outside activity has the one focus, in the studio all experiences can come into play from many different times and places. It is a time for experimentation and intuition to take the lead, but always tempered with knowledge and understanding.
Rod will generally have several works on the go at any one time, through this approach he can feed the other and things don’t become too precious. An idea that he starts out with mustn’t be set in stone, the freedom must exist for change to take place, for the happy accident to be followed.
‘I suppose I just like making things, whether it’s paintings or ceramic forms. I feel that my interest in surfaces comes through in both media. When working with clay I am always trying to change its surface either by pushing things into it, scratching it, adding things on in the raw state, or manipulating a distressed feel through the glazing and firing process. The same applies when I’m painting, it’s mainly the surface of the painting that interests me. I will scratch into the surface build areas up with thicker paint or collage, tear up and reassemble pieces then work back into them. All this until I finally stop because the energy has been dissipated into the work, there is no more to give in this piece, it’s time to move on.
My studio tends to be cluttered, messy and chaotic but that’s the way it works best for me. It’s from this chaos that I try to make sense of my world. Always the process.’
