Amongst
this collection are jackets of bark, loosened and peeled from rotting trunks
left to lie. On the underside of these flayed strips highways of woodworm
furrows are etched into the bast. Close up the outer surfaces scarred and
callused, depict traces of microclimate and the attentive labour of human
hands. Their decay halted temporarily by my curiosity I consider
these shards of wood. The iterative patterns of growth determined by genus, the
history worn in each crevice and crease, and the small round holes signalling
the flight paths of previous inhabitants. Distinctly round, these holes the
size of pin heads pepper the bark’s surface. Each one puncturing the wrinkled
membrane like a radiographer’s tattoo.
Ekphrasis bookwork, hand coloured stone lithographs with bronzed text printed on translucent paper, 70 x 46 x 2 cms
'Ekphrasis: inscriptions on wood and stone'
'Out of the Woods: Nick Mobbs and Serena Smith' at Leicester Print Workshop 2019-20
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