julian rowe
julian rowe
visual artist
visual artist
...irnen
Irnen, the title of Julian Rowe's installation, is a Middle English term for any object made of iron. The rich, orange-red iron deposits
which colour the local streams and soil remind us constantly of the geology of the Wealden landscape. But the passing of time and
an over-familiarity with local place names like Furnace Wood or Cinder Hill, may mist their meaning and significance as indicators
of past communities and industry.
For Rowe, landscape is the product of the relationship between natural and cultural processes. The
human, cultural contribution to that relationship is the superimposition of order and geometry upon the natural world. Irnen is a
manifestation of this ordering process. Irnen is a map, a structure which renders the landscape intelligible and refers to the layers
of human activity which have left their Imprint on the landscape of the Weald.
The Celts were the first to make tentative expeditions
from their settlements on the Downs into the dense forests of the Weald to extract iron. In the 16th and 17th century the streams
were dammed to form ponds which powered the trip-hammers of the forges, and dense oak and beech forests were felled to be slow-burnt
into charcoal to feed the furnaces in which the iron was made and formed.
In Irnen the natural and the engineered are held together
in tension. Wood and iron are combined, the organic and the elemental brought together. The chain linkages and iron hoops are functional,
utilitarian items, products redolent of a once thriving local industry which shifted to the north of England with the growth of the
coal trade. These linkages, whilst still weighty, have been cast by Rowe from a compound of resin and iron powder. The inter-connected
knots are evidence of repetitive, systematic practices. It is timber, sawn and shaped, that holds the structure taut, supporting its
weight and counteracting gravity's downward pull. Within this network of complex, mechanistic elements, nature asserts a presence
in Rowe's unique landscape. Dry Wealden soil clings to the contorted and desiccated roots of the grubbed tree stumps, suspended and
encircled by forged iron. Oxygen and moisture react to rust the chain links and imbue the work with dense, earth colours.
Rowe's practice
is linked intrinsically to specific places he knows and with which he has a strong psychological affinity. He lives in Lamberhurst
and writes of the ritual of gathering the found objects, mud and plant matter which he uses in his work. The Weald Gallery setting
provided Rowe with a challenging opportunity to extend his practice and develop Irnen in three dimensions. The installation was assembled
in the gallery during the course of the exhibition, giving visitors an opportunity to discuss the process with the artist.
In experiencing Irnen we are invited to engage with Rowe's unique ordering of a very specific landscape and consider our place within the past, present
and future of that landscape.
© Marian Williams BA (Hons) MA - Art Historian
Irnen. 2002. Cast resin iron, wrought iron, tree roots, sisal rope, charcoal. 275cm x 365cm x 122cm
