Stations of the Dark (Richard Skelton)

- An artist-made portfolio containing an original painting from the series.
- An artist-made portfolio containing a numbered series of twelve prints
- A cahier-stitched pamphlet with artist’s essay.
- A colophon card, signed by the artist.​
- A music download card.
- Limited edition of 12.

 

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- View photographs of this edition here -

This sequence of twelve paintings was begun in the shadow of the Kielder Observatory in a ‘dark sky’ region of the Scottish Borders. Conceived in 2022, while recording the album Selenodesy, the series takes as its starting point the astronomical drawings from Copernicus’ 1543 treatise, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres. In addition to conjuring the outline of the lunar disc and the orbital patterns of the planets, the circular gouge marks in the centre of each panel reveal the artist’s abiding interest in prehistoric mark-making, from the geometric signs of Palaeolithic cave paintings to the cup and ring marks of Neolithic stone monuments.

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After relocating to Ireland in 2023, the paintings were eventually completed under a very different sky, during the long dark of a Connemara winter.  The subtle variance in blue-black hues across the twelve panels can be thought of as different stations of the dark; loosely plotting the fading of the light and its gradual return. It is therefore fitting that this Edition is released to coincide with the longest night of the year, on the Hiemal Solstice.

 

Each painting is accompanied by a portfolio of numbered, limited edition prints of the entire series, and a cahier-stitched pamphlet containing a short essay by the artist, reflecting on the nature of darkness along the wild Atlantic edge of Ireland. The artwork itself comes in its own portfolio, and the edition is completed by two longform compositions for cello and electronics, written and recorded during the winter of 2023/4.​