Wanted: Dead & Alive – Paul Haydock-Wilson

Part of my personal geography, these etchings of trees, some of which have undergone major surgery, embrace the processes of entropy and decay while retaining their essential character and presence. They speak directly to the sculptural and skeletal nature of trees. The title ‘Wanted: Dead & Alive’ alludes to the aesthetic desirability of dead and alive trees and their singular personalities.

Review

"The artist observes and records beauty in the least likely of places, such as the oily grey mud and waters of a London river where a frond of seaweed drifts by and occasional vivid colours of a passing blue buoy or a red balloon. Industrial shapes of cranes and gas works emerging from fogs of silvers, golds and greys. He includes a passing helicopter, seagulls chatter and a plane as soundtrack for his gentle observation. In his etchings the contrasts are dramatic in a different way, the mountains and cliffs of Ireland stand against the tactile softness of wet sand and seaweed or the luminosity of sea and sky. In Dreamfields he has used double exposure on film to create ghostly landscape images. I get the impression of an artist who is sharply observant, but find no hint of criticism in what he observes, only a patient watchfulness. His work can be hypnotically serene." JUDY RUSSELL - POET