‘Reality is such a subjective, intangible concept. Trying to define it is like trying to lift a handful of water. The only real absolute is point of view, and changing this is as powerful as changing the object you’re viewing.

The most subtle variations of light, design or angle can transform the bland to the magical. The distillation of a scene can also convert the average into the sublime, by simply deleting any elements that don’t harmonise with the essence, the feeling, of a place. In my work, the feeling and atmosphere has priority over the actual landscape itself, and distilling the “essential oil” of a scene is paramount to creating an exciting visual work.

I also try to evoke a sense of whimsical, almost hauntingly simplified realism, an alternate or parallel world, suggesting a time before man’s interference with the landscape.’

Dave Sparkes, 2022