SUNLIGHT: Roger Ackling at the Henry Moore Institute
Maja Lorkowska, Exhibitions EditorVisit now
SUNLIGHT: Roger Ackling
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The Henry Moore Institute is currently home to the most comprehensive exhibition of the work of artist Roger Ackling (1947-2014).
Ackling’s work defies obvious categorisation thanks to his unusual methods and choice of materials. His objects, which were often pieces of driftwood or found wooden items like forks, ice lolly sticks and clothes hangers, were made by burning. The artist focused sunlight through a small hand-held magnifying glass to scorch repeated, regular lines into the surface.
The resulting pieces have a calm, quiet quality that perhaps communicates the moment of making itself as the process would’ve required very specific conditions and a lot of patience. Ackling was known to sit still for many hours, waiting for the sun to be in the right place. He only ever used only what he could find and what nature itself provided him with, making for a truly sustainable way of working.
Regular straight lines abound in the display, from tiny even marks to long scars that form geometric shapes, confusing the objects’ original purposes. There is ritual to his way of capturing a specific moment in time, with the artist often keeping note of the exact time and duration to complete the piece. While he could only work in sunny weather, some pieces record the moment of pause when a cloud passed over the sun, only to continue shortly after when the rays returned
Ackling was a contemporary and close friend of Richard Long and Hamish Fulton, with all three graduating from Central St Martin’s in the 60s. The common thread between their work was the preference for working in the landscape, rather than in the confines of the studio. Ackling’s work was as close to nature as possible – he preferred not to mark the wood with instruments, instead allowing the sun itself to mark the objects.
SUNLIGHT: Roger Ackling exudes both quietude and mystery, with the sun-scarred artefacts becoming objects of unknown purpose. It’s not a show to rush through but one that invites reflection and a slow engagement with the artefacts. You might even leave feeling a little more relaxed.
