Hand to Earth, Caroline Jane Harris and Shane McAdams, Scream, London

Both Caroline Jane Harris and Shane McAdams experiment with unconventional forms, such as paper, ball-point pens ink and resin, using nature and landscapes as points of departure but with divergent results. Scream, London, is partnering with the British fashion designer Matthew Williamson for this special exhibition. For his acclaimed Spring & Summer 2013 collection Williamson was inspired by McAdams practice. This blend of art, fashion and nature affords a rich context to showcase the art of these two promising emerging artists.

Shortlisted for the Aesthetica Art Prize 2012, Caroline Jane Harris explores the complexity of nature using a labour-intensive paper-cutting technique. Responding to visual phenomena in nature and using tree formations as her starting point, Harris makes an abstract representation of nature. Her infinite geometric patterns are produced through the symmetrical rendering of digitally printed photographs, which are then hand-cut and placed over one another. The method is reflective and bordering on the neurotic, demanding concentration, repetition and control. The artist’s work attracted the attention of the Aesthetica Art Prize judges and appeared in the first Aesthetica Art Prize exhibition at York St Mary’s, York, earlier this year.

In contrast, Brooklyn-based painter Shane McAdams uses ball-point pen ink, oil and resin to create his evocative and extraordinary landscapes. Rather than cutting, the artist turns to layered construction. Inspired by the desert southwest backdrop he grew up in, he was visually taken by its sculpted topography; how the layered strata of the rock formations came to be exposed by erosion from wind and water, and how the incremental and chaotic effects of time and climate could conspire to create something more orderly than something man-made.

Hand to Earth, Caroline Jane Harris and Shane McAdams, 6 September – 19 October 2013, Scream, 27 – 28 Eastcastle Street, London, W1W 8DH.

Credits
1. Open Network, 2013, hand – cut layered pigment prints on matt paper, 57.7 x 57.7 x 4.8 cm (22.7 x 22.7 x 1.8”), Image courtesy of Caroline Jane Harris and Scream.