Maggie Taylor, The Family, 2026, oil on canvas, 81 cm x 61 cm
The scenery is ever-changing, and always dramatic in this wild and remote part of northern England. I look at the people I see on my walk, the silhouetted figures who remind me of our place in this huge world. The family is as solid as a rock and the bank they stand upon. What does life hold for them? My encounter with these natural and human forms had an additional dimension. What memories reveal themselves to me? I know that by association I am present within this image, nestled in the past. The Humber Estuary dominates the skyline, and I feel small and vulnerable within its vastness. I stand and gather my silent thoughts.
“Before it can ever be a repose for the senses, landscape is the work of the mind. Its scenery is built up as much from strata of memory as from layers of rock” (Schama, 1995, pp 6-7)
The Family (detail)
