Kirkmaiden-in-Fernis 1975

Curator: John Piper's "Kirkmaiden-in-Fernis" presents us with an intriguing ruin rendered in watercolor, ink, and crayon. It's part of the Tate collection. Editor: I'm immediately struck by the tension between the skeletal structure of the building and the encroaching wildness, that green feels almost predatory. Curator: Indeed, Piper frequently explored ruined churches, symbols of history and spirituality fading into the landscape, monuments to a culture’s memory. Editor: And the way he's applied the materials! The layering of watercolor washes and stark crayon lines feels almost like a palimpsest, echoing the physical layers of history within the stones themselves. Curator: The image, almost monochromatic, with sparse color accents, creates a sense of melancholic beauty. What remains becomes precious. Editor: It makes you wonder about the process of its making, the artist's hand enacting its own kind of destruction and reconstruction through material application. It's not just representation; it’s almost a parallel act of building and unbuilding. Curator: Piper's architectural subjects often carry a profound sense of the sublime, the beauty found in the face of decay and the power of the past. Editor: It leaves me contemplating the labour embedded, not only in the art's creation, but also in the original building, both now subjected to the relentless march of time.