Amanda Wallwork

Primarily a painter my practice is concerned with geology and archaeology. Informed by a process of immersion, extraction and abstraction my work is a form of mapping or shorthand for a collection of ideas and ideologies, symbolising an activity in time and place. Much of my work originates from investigating the landscape around my home in Dorset and frequent visits to the moors of West Penwith, Cornwall and refers to the traces and remains of early human habitation and land use. The colours and techniques used in the work evoke the experience of archaeological excavations and the process of erosion.

DEEP TIME
In a departure from previous work revealing traces in the earth when viewed from above, recent works go below ground exploring the geology beneath. Homing in on the physicality and colour of the exposed rock face of the Dorset coast this work references the term ‘deep time’ used to describe the concept of the vast period of time represented by geological timescales and the ‘colour’ of time as symbolised by geological mapping. These works convey a sense of the age old, all knowing of the rock beneath our feet and the concept of these slowly formed layers acting as compressed data stores recording everything.

MAPPING THE RIDGEWAY
The works in this series reference the many ‘lost’ archaeological sites revealed through the recent National Mapping Programme survey of the South Dorset Ridgeway. This area of high ground in West Dorset is one of the richest archaeological sites in Britain. Whilst the many lumps and bumps of the prehistoric henges and barrows in this landscape are clearly visible on the ground there are many, many more that can only be seen from the air where they show up as faint marks or changes in colour of soil or vegetation.

TIMEWALKING
My work is informed by extensive research including a lot of walking to really experience and understand the landscapes and concepts I work with. These walks encompass the physical and imagined aspects of the past and present capturing the resonance of those journeys in both time and place.