Peter Dailey’s new work is inspired by plant forms and the interaction of humans with the natural world. His work includes two large-scale paintings, a series of charcoal drawings and seven major sculptural forms. The sculptures consist of seven large Perspex test tubes that are mounted onto stainless steel tables and encase bizarre hybrid plant forms. Their laboratory appearance makes the viewer question man’s intervention with nature, such as genetic modifications, and gene cloning.

Peter speculates about, “the notion of an internal structure to the nature of all things and whether we can fully understand such a concept through scientific processes alone. Where does such scientific inquiry leave an intuitive or instinctive approach to the exploration of these notions, and how far can humans manipulate nature without a degree of randomness reasserting itself?”

His images are derived from organic forms, such as plant structures, both as a literal representation of nature and as a metaphor for the nature of all things. The formal characteristics of the artworks create an ambiguity of scale, as in micro or macro, and allude to the dichotomy between the organic and the inorganic or built. They are intended as scientific ciphers for us to question how we use our knowledge to interpret the land and how much we are able to understand the landscape through a scientific process alone.

*prices valid 2006