I am interested in the imaging of place, particularly the rapid change of certain locations and the subsequent pressure on the environment and cultural heritage, and the perceived paving over of tradition. The use of watercolour is closely associated with topography (the study of place) and scientific enquiry (making knowledge visible), which I combine with an archive / taxonomical approach, as if preserving things before they change again. Watercolour is used historically for recording both exotic new environments, and presenting a traditional, unchanging or perhaps idealised view of nature. I use the medium to explore the temporary nature of locations in various stages of development – often transitory sites on the outskirts of cities. Another ongoing focus is how landscape images are used in different layers of everyday life – from the placing of public art in local environments to fragments unintended to be viewed in such a way from outside of an art context, such as billboards acting as a temporary cover-up for sites. I am interested in how our relationship with landscape is mediated through these different representations, where simulation, rather than direct experience is key to how we perceive such things. Beijing is, of course, an ideal location to study the processes and consequences of rapid development, and also the types of imagery used to gloss over sites in a state of transition.

The works are offset by negative, unpainted space that provides a clearness and distinguishes the scenes from their physical environment. The means of presentation on the page removes a sense of direct involvement with the subject, in keeping with ideas about the onslaught of simulated experiences from images instead of a direct connection with place. The viewer can perceive themselves as an outsider – observing from a separated position rather than immersed in the situation. I want to use painting to decelerate our reading of the familiar, to open up a space for re-evaluating the meaning of mass-produced pictures of modern life and the sites they document. For me watercolour opens up space for invention and reinvesting feeling and atmosphere into such images.

The experience of living and working in Beijing, applying myself to an unknown culture, while at the same time being aware of the links it has to the key concerns and curiosities in my work, has influenced me greatly, and I don't consider the work presented here as a conclusion to the experience, but something to be further developed.

-- Ben Hart