Richard Bartle

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Unearthed

Brick & Stone, Iron & Bronze

Brick & Stone, Iron & Bronze was developed during a three-month residency in Wood Enderby, Lincolnshire, combining fieldwalking, research, painting and public engagement, and was first exhibited at Tattershall Castle in 2024.

Painting of a piece of flint from the series Brick & Stone, Iron & Bronze

Multi Tool
2024 · acrylic on canvas · 155 × 120 cm

The project emerged from a period of immersion in the landscape and community surrounding the village. Through fieldwalking and metal detecting, I collected fragments of brick and pottery, pieces of iron, buttons, coins and occasional archaeological artefacts. Gathered from the surface and subsoil of working farmland, these objects became the starting point for a series of paintings exploring the traces people leave behind and the relationship between place, memory and material.

Alongside the development of the work, the project included a programme of talks and public engagement activities with local communities, creating opportunities to share conversations around landscape, archaeology, local history and the stories embedded within everyday objects.

Presented against fields of raw canvas, the objects are removed from their original context and transformed into records of encounter. Rather than reconstructing history, the paintings reflect upon the act of discovery itself and the connections that emerge between contemporary experience and the material remains of the past.

Painting of a Gunter's chain link from Brick & Stone, Iron & Bronze

Picnic in the 36.72 Acre Field
2024 · acrylic on canvas · 155 × 120 cm

Painting of an Edward III silver penny from Brick & Stone, Iron & Bronze

One of the Henrys
2024 · acrylic on canvas · 155 × 120 cm

Painting of a Roman brooch from Brick & Stone, Iron & Bronze

Trinkets from the Riverbank
2024 · acrylic on canvas · 155 × 120 cm

Painting of a tudor dress hook from Brick & Stone, Iron & Bronze

He Loveth Me, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
2024 · acrylic on canvas · 155 × 120 cm

Painting of a half guinea from Brick & Stone, Iron & Bronze

The Huntsman's Dance
2024 · acrylic on canvas · 155 × 120 cm

Painting of a bronze age pin from Brick & Stone, Iron & Bronze

Bun Fall
2024 · acrylic on canvas · 155 × 120 cm

Painting of a musket ball from Brick & Stone, Iron & Bronze

Oliver's Army
2024 · acrylic on canvas · 155 × 120 cm

Painting of buttons from Brick & Stone, Iron & Bronze

The Land of Shod
2024 · acrylic on canvas · 155 × 120 cm

Painting of icine coins from Brick & Stone, Iron & Bronze

Ripae Artificis
2024 · acrylic on canvas · 155 × 120 cm

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