First Light | Magnus Hammick

CLOSE is delighted to present a new series of work by Magnus Hammick.

First Light will showcase a brand new series of photographic and performance-based works. These pieces derive from Hammick’s daily dawn walking ritual during which he photographs the same oak tree, thus documenting the cyclical nature of the seasons.

“This  exhibition is based on my daily practice. Every morning I walk the same route across my neighbouring fields. I have for some years now taken an image of the same oak tree at sunrise. This, for me, is a record of the cycle of the seasons. The oak tree has become a symbol of the breathing planet and the reliability of nature. The tree is an unremarkable ordinary oak. I pass it every day. Once in situ, I will use these images to take you on the same journey. The performance of mark making on the images represents the human impact on nature. A simple walk defines an instance in time when the oak tree appears everyday on a west east axis. My daily activity as an artist is one of repetition taking the same journeys  over  and over again until they are etched in my visual memory. They are places of comfort for me.”
Magnus Hammick

Hammick lives and works in London and Somerset. He graduated from Oxford University in 1993 and emerged as one of the key figures in the Young British Art movement of the 1990’s, and has exhibited widely in Europe and New York. His art work is held in many private and public collections.

Hammick is an entrepreneur and environmentalist and has devoted his time to developing products that actively lower our carbon emissions. He balances this with an art practice which focuses on nature and his relationship to it. His sustainable products are making an impact for better air quality on an international scale.