The artists and their inspiration
Rachel Messenger has chosen Scarborough Lighthouse at Night with Full Moon by Walter Linsley Meegan and Scarborough, Castle Hill and Harbour by Moonlight by Henri Philippe Neumans, which depict the shore at different stages of the evening. Her piece Disused is inspired by the debate surrounding the overuse of plastic bags and non-biodegradable found objects either left or washed up on Scarborough’s beaches.
Janet White first saw John Atkinson Grimshaw’s painting Burning Off when she moved to Scarborough in 1986. A flare has been lit for a boat in peril in the South Bay, to guide the crew as they navigate a stormy sea to reach safe harbour. Seeing today’s news as a different kind of flare – a warning that our seas and marine life are in danger from a polluting surge of discarded waste material, her installation Awash uses manufactured or worked materials gathered from Scarborough shores. The objects evidence the immense power of the sea to impact the coastline and defences, of its lure to attract people and industries, but also of its vulnerability to plastic waste that will take thousands of years to break down.
Justin DL’s Moon – Coast - Flotsam/Jetsam (2018) [Series of 6] replaces the image of the sun in Scarborough Castle (A Matchment) with the moon. In the 350 years since the Scarborough Castle scene was painted there has been significant change with human pollution and global warming affecting the coastline and seas. In Moon-Coast-Flotsam/Jetsam, the human leaves an impression of their pollution within the scene; subtle but discernible to the keen eye.
Born in Manchester, Scarborough-based Kane Cunningham has created Rise and Fall of the Tide in response to the Seascape Collections with particular reference to the work of Henry Barlow Carter. His work looks back over time, examining the collection and its impact on Scarborough residents against a changing environment.