Although firmly implanted in the unique topography of a particular landscape, Gregory Sheehan’s work would not be described as landscape painting in a geographical, pictorial, or realistic sense.
For more than thirty years, Sheehan has been working with mountain turf collected from blanket bog land. A profound interest in this archaic substance prompted him to delve deeper into the underlying significance of this dark, inspiring, natural phenomenon.
Sheehan investigates the transposed perspective of a landscape, his attention directed toward the innate processes inherent in the landscape's formation and the evolutionary and transformational qualities contained therein. These unique attributes are almost beyond comprehension and just out of sight.
Referencing the layered accumulation of the source material, the majority of these pieces are structured horizontally. A substructure of mountain turf and granite, which have, in most instances, been previously applied to the surface, facilitates an animated interaction between colour, form, and content.
Initial applications, whether on paper or canvas, always tended to reveal the wild amorphous origins of the material, adding tinges of anarchy, ambiguity and mystery, all in equal proportions.
Since neither turf nor peat have ever been traditional painting mediums, there were no reference books to consult—no accumulated knowledge to build upon. So, the only alternative was to commence a journey of exploration, trial and error! Taking up the challenge, my curiosity, provided the necessary impetus.
In the course of this process, the material gradually began to open up, disclosing many of its distinctive and particular anomalies. The inquiry lead to a space where perceptions of time, place, and indeed, mortality became significantly interrelated.
Reflecting the wild, windswept mountain bog from which it was extracted, the contentious nature of this particular turf appealed to me from the beginning.
This mountain turf turned out to be inspiring, idiosyncratic, evocative, and I was in for one surprise after another. This fiery, expressive medium acted upon me as a catalyst, setting multitudes of ideas and impressions into motion.
Turf, or bog-peat is a material which bears witness to cycles of growth, decay and continuous transformations. In other words, a material with an ecological, geological and mythical narrative. Turf speaks to us in quiet unobtrusive ways, perhaps reminding us that we are anchored in and part of a very finely balanced ecological environment.
Gregory Seán Sheehan 2012
Growing up in Rathfarnham meant that the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains were only a stone’s throw away. From an early age I became intimately acquainted with this extraordinary and unique mountain landscape. In absolute contrast to the city and suburbs, the Dublin Mountains are expansive, desolate, wild and wind swept places indeed.
Within seconds of leaving the road one enters an older, quieter, wilder world of blanket-bog land, heather, granite, moss, turf coloured tarns, busy streams, dense mountain fog, slanting sunlight, wind twisted trees, birdsong and above all, a deep timeless solitude.
