Port at Aarhus, Denmark
Etching with Aquatint
2018
Edition of 100, prints available
Handprinted on 220gsm Fabriano
Coastlines have become politically charged in recent times, with ongoing debate about migrancy. Refugees have often been labelled in pejorative biological terms, with tabloids referring to 'swarms' and 'plagues'. I have focused for some time now on images of beached jellyfish, drawing a quiet response. In this series of etchings, I have drawn comparison between the refuge shelters found on the tidal causeway of the Northumberland Holy Island of Lindisfarne, and the 'adjacent' beaches of Denmark, where I visited similarly desolate dunes littered with abandoned Nazi-era bunkers, right alongside vernacular Danish summer-houses. I see the beach as a strange historical hinterland as a result, especially when both Denmark and Northumberland have a shared Viking heritage. Beaches and coastlines can be seen as at the heart of ideas of nationality and community, whether they welcome or guard against incomers.
This etching was included in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2019.
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