Beth Morgan - A Walk in Wakefield

Wakefield has a plethora of natural landscapes within the local area open and accessible for people to walk freely, to break away from the hustle and bustle of urban life, taking a moment to breath in the nature.

It is the experience and memories of walking within these local landscapes that Beth will be bringing to the Artwalk with her new mural 'A Walk in Wakefield'.

Initially, the project commenced with a walk in the natural landscape surrounding Sandal Castle, where Beth made notes and quick sketches within her field journal to capture the experience of walking. Sandal Castle is a place of historical significance, and she is interested in how this will influence the walk and her experience of it. 

The outcome from this walk takes the form of a permanent large colourful abstract mural in The Ridings Shopping Centre stairwell, that encompasses the memories of Beth's experience. For the visitor, it will give the impression of being within one of Beth's paintings, immersed within the environment just like the experience of being immersed within nature.

About Beth Morgan

Beth Morgan is an artist who is interested in the way in which she experiences the natural world around her, and her artistic responses to that experience. Walking is an important part of her practice and informs the painted practice she creates within her studio. The main sites for the walks Morgan undertakes are natural English landscapes: long stretching coastline with an abundance of thriving rockpools, baron moorlands that become transformed with a wealth of heather, and rolling hills leading to craggy rockfaces and idyllic waterfalls. She situates her practice within these natural environments, rejecting the urban and immersing herself within nature and taking in the experience.

No photographs are taken during the walks Morgan takes, only notes and quick sketches within her ‘field journal’ that are then used on the return to her studio to prompt a memory or feeling. Overly saturated colours, biomorphic shapes and layered forms build up as she recollects her time on specific walks in a particular site, transforming and shifting until it forms a finished painting. Her paintings and sculptures are complete abstraction yet the shapes become strangely familiar due to their organic nature.