In many ways, my work is deeply rooted in painterly traditions; large
scale works of land, sea and sky. I am fascinated too by photography as
a time based medium, and often work with long exposures at extreme ends
of the day, allowing the landscape to etch itself into the camera. A photograph
has a magical relationship with time and place - hovering in some curious
indefinable space.
Sometimes the formal elements in my work may comprise a simple narrative
or journey, perhaps just from dawn to dusk. The journey may be physical,
or symbolic; or both. The final piece of three seascape triptychs, Return,
ends with an incandescent glow of intense light gently rising and fading,
the destination or point of arrival an almost invisible blanket of white
light. The point at which everything is removed from the picture plain is
the point of ultimate renewal; the very limit of our knowledge and understanding.
'Stewart's Land images often depict paths: images of 'not-here,'
resonant with 'elsewhere,' the possibility and the promise of passage. They
point towards the journey's end without designating it, without characterising
it or giving it a name. They are invitations to a journey, not to arrival.
Stewart's Seascape works often represent thresholds ... as in certain
meditation practices ... we are situated in emptiness, looking over emptiness,
towards emptiness ... ' *
Iain Stewart May 2006
* from "Footsteps to Infinity; On Iain Stewart" extracted from
land/sea/sky 1994 - 2004 © Iain Tromp 2004
58° North 2006 [view
images]
Land Sea Sky 1995-2002 [view]