These unique prints (U/P) are inspired by my move from Cornwall to the Kent coast at Walmer, UK.
I carry a sense of place; of moorland life, its light and dark skies, landscape, streams, to this stretch of coast in Kent, using carborundum to make the studies. The plate is inked up, put through an etching press, to make the strong black and whites. I am attracted to the Carborundum technique, invented in the 1930’s – it holds a resonance for me in the arts and pamphlet-making.
Notes:
The Dancers is inspired by an earlier project, including research, publications and film, Making the Killick (2018): https://youtu.be/gd0RsJgKHAM
The stones from my original Killick project are now in a stream on Bodmin Moor, at South Trekeive; I decided they just had to remain in Cornwall, when I left for Kent.
I also thought about ceremoniously burning the frames that held each Killick stone before we left, and I did not. Rather, they came to our new home in Walmer, Kent.
The frames sat on a shelf in my work space for several months, and then I found hag-stones in the garden (small stones/pebbles with a hole through them) and the idea of the Killick and stones re-emerged.
a selection of hag-stones found in our garden, Walmer, Kent, digital photograph, Philip R. Bennetta, 2023
This time, I thought to have the stones grouped on the outside, rather than inside the frame; embracing and holding the frame (ludras). I made fourteen of these bracelets, in all – two for each of the seven frames I had chosen; each bracelet has seven stones.
I considered narrating a poem I had been working on, and I did not. I have kept the film simple, with sound/music, that I recorded late one evening, on the dulcimer. An ethereal sound, something of the sea, the true home for a killick (ancient anchor for a small boat) is what I sought, and I stretched the sound, until I found it…
the dancers (film link: https://youtu.be/xK4VPQn-Vbk )
I hope you find something here for yourself. Also, please take a look at my research page, for more information on the Killick project.
A short film, published today, to do with place, art and global warming, featuring twenty ink and watercolour paintings on postcards, showing some of the making process, with original music
Each Poem by Post is a collaborative project involving a contemporary poet and an artist, with one invited to respond to the work of the other. Limited editions of these traditionally made pamphlets are the creative outcome and these unique publications are available exclusively to those involved in the project, for their own use. Rosy Garlic is our latest hand-sewn pamphlet in the series.
following the recent poem-film unseen (https://youtu.be/Sx2JP35aKaU)
here is our pamphlet version, published in the Poem by Post Series, with unseen beautiful artwork…
recent conversations 1-4
conversations (1) oil and paper on canvas, Philip R. Bennetta 2022
conversations (2) oil and paper on canvas, Philip R. Bennetta 2022
conversations (3) oil and paper on canvas, Philip R. Bennetta 2022
in the silence you don’t know (The Unnameable, Samuel Becket)
Sea & Stone research: following several weeks of thought and digital experiments on how to resolve three paintings, an unexpected day in the studio due to intense and sustained rainfall, brought out the bright red pigment and oil; a triptych (?)
philip bennetta 