Artwork by The Northern School of Art’s Fine Art lecturer Dr Tony Charles is being featured in an open air exhibition located in a North Yorkshire forest.

Dr Charles’ work was selected for the 2021 SelfScapes project which is situated within the boundaries of the scenic Dalby Forest near Scarborough and showcases the work of nineteen artists focusing on the relationship between self and its environment.

The installation by Dr Charles, pictured at the top, is called ‘Growth’ and in a statement about the work he explained: “The installation for SelfScapes intends to challenge the tension between the man-made and the natural, questioning whether there is any difference between the two. Using steel wool as a material to imitate life, the work seeks to express a common human yearning for nature and proposes to suggest their natural union.“At a location near Adderstone a large tree that has been uprooted by strong winds still grows horizontally along the ground. Its exposed roots are obscured by a bright
green velvet blanket of moss, growing into a sculptural form. ‘Growth’, the installation of twisted strands of steel wool, mimics this natural process and flows as an organic simulation from a tangled mass on the tree roots down to the ground into branch like, expanding systems.

“Over time, the bright glistening greys of the material will corrode into an orange rust that will complement the colour of the moss. The title has various connotations. It refers to life but is also a business term used in manufacturing. It can also be used as a noun as in ‘a growth’, which is what this quite sinister looking sculptural installation can be viewed as.”

SelfScapes is supported by Forestry England, which owns Dalby Forest, and has funding from Arts Council England. Further details of the exhibition which runs until June 2021 are available here