If you are looking for exhibitions to go to this November, then make your way down to Phoenix Gallery to view Tania Rutland’s depictions of Sussex.
‘Chip of Flint – Fragment of Chalk’ is a solo exhibition, which features Rutland’s atmospheric drawings and etchings of various different landscapes. The exhibition is open every day from 11:00-17:00, so you have plenty of time to enjoy it.
Human Footprints
Tania Rutland explores the constant changes in landscapes and the impact humans have had on shaping it over thousands of years. The work appears to be almost ghostly, sketched in black and white. As though the marks she has made are reflective of the marks we make on the landscape. She sketches lines and indents, where we have made paths or trodden down the earth.
Most of the scenes are hazy, as though we are looking into a memory of a route we may have walked years ago. The landscapes are vague, a grey area between familiar and unfamiliar. We strive to recognise this blurred area, but it could be anywhere.
There is a sense of history behind all of these places, formed over time. We think of our personal history linked to landscapes like this as well as the history of humanity. Questions come to mind like, who has impacted the land before us? How will it change in the future?
Lost Landscapes
We can’t be certain of how the landscape looked in the past or how it will change in the future. It is this uncertainty which might seem daunting. With an emphasis on climate change, the effects we have on landscapes are more drastic than ever.
We look at these ghostly depictions and it feels as though they are of the past, they feel lost almost. There are so many places which have now been overrun with buildings. Looking at all of these empty landscapes, we might try and envisage a time when the majority of Sussex looked like this.
The exhibition provokes so many different ideas and thoughts. So, why not step away from the busy town and have a look at ‘Chip of Flint – Fragment of Chalk’?
