Katherine Renton

I grew up on the coast of North East England, where the many ruins have inspired my work on the interconnection between conflict and play: castles became the site for childhood battle games, World War II pillboxes were Wendy houses, and concrete tank traps served as playground apparatus. Conversely, my current series, depicting sandcastles that I encounter along the coastline, are created out of play but pre-empt destruction. My fascination lies in the creative and renewable use of found natural materials.

The destructive potential of natural materials also plays a fundamental part in my creative process. I collect rock fragments from the coastline and reduce them to a fine powder before adding my own binder to create watercolour paint. Seacoal from local beaches creates my unique medium with a glistening sediment, whilst referencing industry with its environmental repercussions. The controversial fossil fuel, shale, forms my grey pigment, whereas more colourful hues are derived from bricks, dumped on beaches to reinforce the coastline, and cliff-fallen pieces of yellow ochre and sandstone.

My castle motif intimates the causes of our contemporary issues, but also a solution: England’s border castles became obsolete, not through victory or defeat, but through unification – with the Act of Union in 1707 creating the United Kingdom and with it greater stability, safety and prosperity. I paint the castles for the 21st century, in all their diverse, collective and sustainable glory.

The main title for this exhibition, ‘Keep’, is ambiguous, referring to the keep as the main defensive structure of the castle, but also posing a question for all on our environment: ‘Keep?’