Robert Devers & Alice Clark

March 2007

“Spirit of Place” by Robert Devers

In this series of works, I am exploring ideas based on the concept of the squaring of the circle, the confluence of the physical with the spiritual. Through the art of maiolica glaze painting I am pairing an expansive image and surface with a contractive form, the cube. My recent experiences working in Italy have provided me with an inspired view and renewed responsiveness to prismatic color, feeling and spirituality. The shards I have found on the beaches there have found a new context in the surfaces of my paintings, creating a visceral connection to the light, landscape and history I experienced in Italy.

Spirit of Place: genius loci

Consult the genius of the place in all;
That tells the waters or to rise, or fall:
Or helps th’ambitious hill the heav’ns to scale
Or scoops in circling theatres the vale;
Calls in the country, catches opening glades,
Joins willing woods, and varies shades from shades,
Now breaks, or now directs, th’intending lines,
Paints as you plant, and, as you work, designs

Alexander Pope, Epistle IV to Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington

COMMON THREAD

Alice Clark’s practice uses the context of inscribing to investigate the complex relationship between nature and culture utilizing elemental and found materials as tools of exploration. The work considers patterns and rhythms of growth and decay in the physical world and the way in which human intervention attempts to impose order on the natural environment. It underlines how much mankind is bound up with the natural world and the degree to which our culture of excess undermines the sustainability of natural ecosystems.

The content of the work is the vulnerability of nature and as an installation it has raw clay, carbonised orange halves and found boots and thread. These are culturally insignificant materials but are suggestive of the need for urgent and continuing dialogue on ways to protect the earth from further human-induced damage.