‘Little Punks XI’, monoprint, 30x35cm

One-off monoprint — only one available

‘Little Punks XI’ is one of a set of larger monoprints I have created from photos created by Eva Boda as part of a collaboration & discussion around urban & rural spaces, and how they can be managed for the benefit of both people & the regeneration of ecosystems.

Eva creates massive abstract paintings via various media – photography, frottage/monoprints, drawing, digital sketches – from a starting point of abandoned places and spaces. She has recently had a highly successful solo show at the Čin Čin Gallery in her home city of Bratislava.

She often cycles miles out from her urban dwelling into the nearby wilds that skirt the Danube to photograph these environs to feed her own projects.
Knowing well of my Tree Portraits she was kind enough to send me a number of photos of the trees from here, some of which had received attention from the local beavers!
Having recently christened a series of smaller paintings of hers from her recent exhibition ‘Little Punks’, the beavers involved and these trees I have printed here have also been given the same, ironic moniker which gently mocks the misunderstanding that beavers are a ‘destructive/disruptive’ force, when they are, in reality, the most positive keystone species we have available in this country, in terms of habitat creation and biodiversity.

By rendering these photos into monoprint, it extends not only Eva’s processes of deconstructing urban/lost spaces from photography into an organic field, via another hand, this also juxtaposes the discussion from her urban settings into the wider environment, where nature can reclaim and repair, but also possibly show a balanced field where both humanity and nature can co-exist.

Even in the urban sphere where many spaces may seem unsuitable for wildlife, it has the capability to adapt, thrive & move freely – London being the classic example (it is arguably the greenest large city globally), where there is a well-connected matrix of parks, canals, rivers/streams & brownfield sites.

Beavers have recently been released on the Thames near Oxford & London itself at Enfield. Both Port of Tilbury & Barnes Wetland are classic examples of how disused/brownfield can regenerate into magnets for rare species. The Purple Emperor butterfly, once thought a coloniser of merely ancient woodlands, is now recorded regularly around Zone 3 due to Sallow [its caterpillar foodplant] abounding.

If seasonal grazing/browsing is introduced and maintained (Epping Forest/Wanstead Park has recently had a low-density herd of managed Longhorn Cattle in to graze) the flora & fauna benefits would be huge In turn human physical and mental wellbeing can be inproved long-term, with education used as a critical tool to better integrate future urban generations to the natural world