The Science
‘Dark Peak’ is one of two collages commissioned as part of the Vestiges project – a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Peak District National Park and 200 years since the birth of the antiquarian Thomas Bateman. The project combined archaeological research with poetic and artistic responses. I spent time out in the Peaks with the archaeologists from the National Park and Universities of Sheffield and Manchester, exploring stone circles, navigating our way between stone walls to barrows and sites that Bateman had dug. The two geologies of the area, millstone grit and limestone, became the bedrocks for the collages. I studied Bateman’s illustrations, rooting through pages to begin layering a sense of materials and forms. And gathered into this growing landscape imagery were snatches of vivid poetry contributed by the poets collaborating with the project. The collages combine above ground and sub-surface, and the colours and textures of stone and soil characterise each one, cut forms and fallow spaces building form and void in the landscape. Melanie Giles wrote the poem ‘Grave Goods’ in response to ‘Dark Peak’, building new layers of creative memory over the stratigraphy of stone and soil, paper and glue.
This image accompanies the entry of the poem ‘Grave Goods’ by Melanie Giles, part of the same Special Issue.
Find out more about Thomas Bateman and about the Vestiges project.
The Artist
Rose is an artist and archaeologist based whose work explores the relationship between people and landscape through time. She is interested in how to communicate the invisible or unseen; how to ignite people's imaginations about the past and the way we study it. Her work is increasingly used in museums and heritage settings, including the ‘World of Stonehenge’ exhibition at the British Museum. She illustrates poetry collections, working regularly with Guillemot Press, and won the 2017 Michael Marks Poetry Illustration prize. Rose’s love of communicating archaeology has also led to broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and 4.
You can reach Rose on her website: roseferraby.com or on Twitter @roseferraby and Instagram @roseferraby.
Copyright statement. This work is published under the CC BY-NC-SA license