BALTIC 39: ‘A Lively Sense of Nature’ by Laura Harrington

A series of new works in progress by Invisible Dust artist Laura Harrington were presented at the final week of BALTIC 39 FIGURE TWO, Newcastle. The exhibition was part of the results of her collaboration with Geomorphologist Dr Jeff Warburton Durham University and the North Pennines AONB Partnership, responding to environmental issues by creating subjective experience from objective analysis.

Deeply engaged with ecology and geology, Harrington’s work involves extensive integrated research within specific environments. Her most recent interest in the uplands and peat bogs of North East England led to her being awarded the prestigious Leverhulme Artist Residency with Durham University, to work alongside Dr Warburton.

The site, Moss Flats, is an upland bare peat bog undergoing scientific monitoring in the North Pennines. The exhibition reflected her ongoing conversation with this landscape, explored through video, drawings and installations.

Inspired by the living energy and decay of this otherworldly environment her works include the importance and often forgotten delight through a video of her one year old son’s exploration of the peat bog natural environment ‘A Child of its Time’. Whilst other drawings ‘Hagg # 1′ and ‘Hagg # 2’ capture the anthropomorphic forms of the tussock and haggs, that encapsulate the dynamic changes of the Moss Flats.

Through her work Harrington allows viewers to re-engage and reconnect with a forgotten terrain, providing a unique insight into the continued transformation of a seemingly still landscape. To find out more about the exhibition visit the BALTIC 39 and Laura Harrington‘s website.