LAND
SCAPE

Samantha Matthews

Opening: March 30 10:00 am

Viewing: March 30 until April 9

This collection of work seeks to engage with an aspect that has underpinned the approach to my practice for many years, sitting in the background but not explicitly identified by words. Within the field of photography and art the concept of ‘landscape’ can function on many different levels, from literally meaning horizontal, through to notions of the sublime. The description I find interesting to apply to parts of my own methodology draws from a gardening perspective or term ‘to landscape’ whereby an intended effort is made to modify the natural environment through alterations, with the goal of improvement through ornamentation (either natural or human). In some ways, the very act of photography – through framing up a scene in a perceived visibly appealing way – could be taken to be ‘landscaping’ of a visual form.

I’ve always found the most stimulating and at times challenging subject matter to engage with are everyday places where the environment is locked in a dialogue with human intervention. The juxtaposition of the environment co-existing (whether by choice or otherwise) with these intrusions is a subject I keep returning to again and again. Sometimes this may take the form of an unconscious interaction or through purposeful observation – it is the tension between the two that lures me to continue photographing the landscape, whatever and wherever that may be.

– Samantha Matthews, March 2022

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