Artist's
Statement
"Food, we all eat it - but do
we stop often enough to consider how it was produced?
Do we expect our food to be cheap ? Does this have
an impact on the planet? These are all very big questions
and ones that I can't answer - but on an individual
level we can all do our bit to find out and make simple
changes if we feel we should.
My
family and I have made some simple choices over
the last five years, we eat a vegetarian diet, try
to shop locally for foods that are available locally,
and have taken on an allotment to grow some of our
own food to find out what is involved in raising
a successful harvest. These changes have helped
me to appreciate what I am eating - and to realise
that to work with nature to produce a harvest is
a complex, time consuming, often fruitless but if
successful a very rewarding process.
Having
been involved with Eden from the early days at Watering
Lane, to the present, I have painted many food producing
plants; ancient olive trees, fresh crops of tomatoes,
aubergines of all shapes and sizes, vines, figs
and sunflowers. Because of this it was a natural
progression for me as an artist to want to explore
these crops in their native situation and to paint
the human interaction of people with these plants.
My
paintings always have a narrative running through
them - it is for the viewer to decide what this
may be; then we have something magical and unique.
Each viewer can have a different reaction and take
away something of their own from my work.
If,
through my paintings, just one person leaves the
exhibition with a greater understanding of food
and an appreciation of the beauty and value of a
diverse and well managed landscape, then I will
have achieved something extremely worth while."
John Dyer. |
