Whixall Bible Series

Comprises: Whixall Bible (Artefact) Whixall Bible (Starfish) Whixall Bible (Peat Cutting) Whixall Bible (Territory) Whixall Bible (Fenn’s Old Works) From the Mosses and Marshes project Rust prints and botanical inks made with sloes, alder, ivy berry, silver birch, bracken and heather on paper Whixall Bible was the local name given to blocks of peat cut by hand tools from the Moss over many decades until a more intensive industrial method was employed. I constructed these blocks to the same traditional dimensions of 9 x 7 x 4 inches. A multiplicity of motifs reveal hidden narratives within the layered human history of the landscape. Human created geometry is reflected in Bronze Age metalwork designs, roads and irrigation systems, steel framed peat processing building, fire baskets used for the Starfish Strategic Decoy site of World War 2, and the regular grid of peat cutting. Rust prints were added from car components found in the former scrapyard at Whixall Moss. These geometric forms are set against fluid mark-making inspired by organic non-human features of the landscape.