Nigel Morris
Mapping and Navigation Series
My work on mapping and navigation has been developed over a number of years and has its origins of making, in collograph printing, in that the work is often constructed in a similar manner to that of a collograph plate. The imagery also has been developed over many years and takes its inspiration from map making and how we find our way from one point to another, transversing the landscape or space using navigational charts and taking bearings from objects in the landscape or in the sky. Inspiration comes from both early mapping of the earth's surface in the form of Portolan charts found in early pilotage books and from modern high tech satellite and computer mapping of the globe.
Inspiration for some of the work has been developed from some photographs found and taken by my grandfathers whilst working at sea. The resulting images can be seen as a visual log of a sea voyage. Images within the paintings make reference to various aspects. Coloured pencil lines drawn can be seen as pencil lines drawn on a sea chart, tracking the ships position, as are the fragments of navigational charts. Photographs depict a point in time; the repeat images convey movement through the series and the voyage.
Other work on mapping is based on the mapping of the earth from satellites. Often these images are used by scientific bodies to gather information on how climate change is altering the planet, plotting the movement of ice flows, receding glaciers and generally mapping the surface of the planet. The image created is not a literal copy of part of the earth but represents earth like textures, colours and forms seen on these photographic maps and it is in this way I regard it as at least semi abstract. The painting is constructed in layers, not unlike the structure of the earth and has markings or symbols painted on the last layers; these make reference to mapping idea of the image. The image format is square, again a reference to map making from the latitude and longitude grid. The painting hopefully draws attention to how fragile the earth actually is as the image represents thousands of miles of planet surface.
Landscape
The subjects usually taken are dramatic mountain landscapes, handled with broad brush marks and strong colour. The brush marks are as important as the colour for they define the contours of the landscape. The colour is strong with contrasting light and shade which helps to establish the dramatic landscape and also to create an atmosphere.
Some paintings have been developed from larger images, reworking the image, simplifying, or using a small section of the larger image to create the work. Theend result being pushed towards the abstract.
Many paintings have as part of the subject a disused building, mine workings or a track. These blend with the natural landscape that dominates as though they are being enveloped by the natural world to blend back into the landscape as though man was not there.
Aviation Paintings
Aviation paintings make up a proportion of my work and many are painted through commissions received from retired aircrew, collectors of Aviation art and the Industry. Types of aircraft painted are varied, modern military, civilian, World War Two, post and pre WW2 can be portrayed.
Aviation subjects are often painted to include a landscape or seascape, thishelps to create a painting that is more than just than depicting an aircraft, and although the aircraft shown do not necessarily dominate they always appear to belong in their environment. Other paintings are created to portray a sense of speed, drama and movement. These are achieved by the use of angled horizons and movement lines. Such paintings have been inspired by film footage of low level flying aircraft taken from the cockpit.
Nigel Morris