‘Land Quest’ and Related Works
1990s/2000s
The decade after 1990 saw fundamental changes in Hitchens’ work and in his approach to the subject of landscape.
He dispensed with many features of his earlier work and turned his attention to exploring landscape through its essential elements, such as stones, sand or wood. Structures were reduced to the basic forms of line and circle. The device of outlining an area repeatedly with parallel lines draws both on contour lines and tree growth rings and the more transient patterns created by the plough.
Image © Joe Low Photography
Image © Joe Low Photography
Image © Joe Low Photography
An innovation of this time saw Hitchens depart from the use of conventional square-cornered canvases. These paintings reveal the influence of other, three-dimensional art forms, such as land art and sculpture. The selection of works in this gallery includes examples of distinctive, irregularly shaped and layered canvases.
Field Interweave, 2009 © The Artist
Harvest Land Forms, 2009, © The Artist
Opening Links, 2000, © The Artist
Wind over fields, 2017, © The Artist