Fergus Byron Low
BA (Hons) Product Design and Craft
My fervor for the landscape is the root of my practice. This mainfests itself through a style of making i term 'primitive' and define as making drawing on rawness and simplicity, whilst immersed in a sense of place. The aim is to create a series of site specific work with an open line of questioning within the narratives of materials and the landscape. This is a maker who with a simplicity of process, specifically the subtle power of using our hands; opening the conversation between maker and viewer.My practice is concerned with the malleability of the land, which is an exploration of living materials that respond to the natural and manmade forces that act within it; through this malleability, I create a deep response to place. Considering the narratives in material, making and place, my practice investigates Ingold’s “palimpsest” of the landscape by outlining the conversation materials have with their environment.Regarding these materials, I demonstrate the significant value in their narratives and that with a strong connection to their origins, a material gains meaningful quality. l experiment in different environments with wild clays, rocks and greenery using place as inspiration. By incorporating these foraged objects, I provide distinct visual connections between a material and its provenance. Performing a series of making in different sites, I investigate their identity and relationship towards each other.The importance of poetry within my practise is in setting my own narrative through making in the places I work. This articulates my surroundings to myself and to my audience, bringing viewers as close to my thinking as possible.
