essay by Jeremy Theophilus
Stephen Turner is an artist deeply interested in finding new ways of seeing the landscape. This fully illustrated catalogue has been published to coincide with his exhibition Tree Rings. The new body of work emerged from Turner’s residency in King’s Wood, Challock, Kent, during a one year cycle from October 2001 to September 2002. It was commissioned by Stour Valley Arts (SVA) as part of its international artistic programme.
As with his previous projects, Turner has used canvases to record marks made by the surrounding environment in a continuing dialogue with nature. Placed around particular trees in the forest, the canvases were left to the action of nature. They provide a physical record of each individual tree’s unique ecology and symbolise cycles of growth, decay and rejuvenation. The Tree Rings drawings were made from the colours produced from the bark, leaves, acorns and berries of the trees. Features essay by Jeremy Theophilus, diary notes by Stephen Turner and natural history notes by Martin Hall.