Emerging Artist Award 2021
"This is the dead land. This is cactus land." (T.S. Eliot, "The Hollow Men")
"This is the dead land. This is cactus land." (T.S. Eliot, "The Hollow Men")
27 x 55 cm
Pastel
This study of cacti and other vegetation in a rocky setting implicitly poses a question in relation to the title.
John Allcock
A large part of my work might be described as occupying territory located between landscape and still life. Frequently my subjects consist of intimate studies of natural objects. The examples selected for this exhibition are all drawn from a series of pastel studies, my "Malta Suite". Finding aesthetic interest in this rather harsh environment, I have drawn connections between these images and the poetry of T.S. Eliot--particularly "The Waste Land" and "The Hollow Men". (Elsewhere my continuing engagement with Eliot's poetry is expressed through my series of sixteen studies responding to "Four Quartets".) My work has been exhibited widely, particularly in the North of England, and on four occasions in the annual exhibition of the Pastel Society.