OLIVER REED

We are delighted to be showing part of Oliver's N:055˚ W:002˚series which was inspired by his frequent wanderings through Duns Castle estate, the venue for our annual Borders Artists exhibition.

Oliver was born in Yorkshire and studied at Leeds College of Art and Hull College of Art before moving to Edinburgh to study for his Master of Fine Arts degree at Edinburgh College of Art. After graduating in 1999 he was offered a teaching role at the College and continues to teach there alongside working on his own paintings and site specific projects. Oliver co-founded Allanbank Arts in 2011, an arts centre offering courses and mentoring sessions in the Borders.

The paintings in this series focus on the transitory nature of the relationship with spaces that we frequently inhabit and pass through, specifically in this case the woods and paths of the Duns Castle Nature Reserve. As Oliver explains;

'The spaces explored may appear chaotic, rough and unconsidered but for me have a natural order, growing and tended to by nature's gardener, one tree dominating another for space and light, and at the same time being dependent and governed by the natural forces working on and in the landscape.

These natural forms and spaces that we encounter, for me, are an intrinsic part of our experiences in engaging with our environment, creating a sense of space, place and the marking of time'.