Andrew Gale
PRINTMAKER PROFILE
ARTIST STATEMENT
Andrew is developing a career in visual art, studying for his BA in Art and Design Practice, at Leek School of Art, University of Derby. His practice includes mixed media painting, drawing and printing. His artwork, inspired by the Peak District environment, could be described as semi-abstract expressionist, exploring the landscape and people in the landscape. Currently, he is focussing on the intersection of human time and place with the physical landscape. He curates the Drawing Room Café art space at the Foxlowe Arts Centre, in Leek. Andrew is a chartered engineer and worked in industry, internationally, then higher education and is Professor Emeritus at The University of Manchester in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering. Whilst at Manchester he collaborated with artists and industry to develop postgraduate education in conceptual design.
His work is currently on producing a series entitled, Lie of the Land. This comprises six mixed media paintings using water-based media , five printed posters and four concertina books. The series is inspired partly by the Kinder Mass Trespass, in 1932. It is a response to people in the landscape of Kinder Scout and environs. The posters present four themes (Comrades, Local, State and Nature), as well as a word experiment poster. Comrades, refers to the trespassers and their ghostly presence. Local, is a reference to localism in Hayfield, particularly prevalent during the Covid-19 lockdown periods. State, relates to the relationship between direct action and the police, as an instrument of the state and the establishment. Nature, is a reference to the Anthropocene. Does nature exist? Four stanzas from the anonymous folk poem entitled The Goose and the Common are included on the posters. The fifth poster, Roam, arises from a thought experiment whilst producing the posters. Making the posters involved collaborating with Chris Barker (The Smallprint Company, Derby), using his large presses. Four of the posters are silkscreen prints overprinted with letterpress and Roam is produced with letterpress.
