Overview

Johnathan Bell loves this island it is sacred to him, as is the ocean that surrounds it. He spends much of his time removing rubbish from the landscape, cleaning the beaches and collecting materials is very therapeutic, good for the soul, wellbeing and conscience.

He is preventing wild animals from unimaginable suffering and death, and improving the appearance of our beaches and landscape, for this, he is gifted with free materials and organic gold: bones! Unfortunately, or maybe fortunate for him there is a constant stream (Gulf) of predominantly international fish farming industrial waste washing up daily to be collected.

His work involves producing assemblages and sculptures from materials that he finds, repurposes or recycles. He has stopped working with materials and processes that are detrimental to his own health as well as the environment and is now relieved to have found a new way of working, one that no longer contributes to the pollution but removes it.

The power of the Ocean and the weather of Lewis is clearly reflected in the scars and decay visible in the materials he finds, be they from the ocean or land-cut, gouged, broken, weathered-literally naturally sandblasted. He also uses recycled household waste in his work and if necessary will search for items in charity shops.

It is all about the materials, he immerses himself in them, studying how they feel, their texture, their form, how they look, what do they evoke? Wondering about their origins in far off countries.

The processes of sifting through, sorting, grading, scrubbing, sterilizing and finally boxing brings him up close and personal with the each item. Getting to know them is important, their every detail, where he found them, where they are now and what they could be used for.

Removing crude oil from materials and flesh from bones is a pet hate, as is breathing in bone dust, he literally gets covered in it, consuming the material. Even having to take showers with fishing industry floats and driftwood to clean them (now that’s an intimate relationship!).

As he combines the collected industrial, natural and technological materials together, he questions how they contrast or complement each other, together what do they evoke? What has changed about one material when placed with another? What are they beginning to symbolise? The works are then starting to take shape and are coming into being, in an instinctive and intuitive way the materials really are guiding the work toward their final construction and what they are starting to communicate.

He lets the works evolve. Every piece that he finds is totally unique, he could not recreate them if he tried. An unexpected shift, now he is excited to find materials that were once loathed, they have even become precious, the one perfect piece to complete a work.

Organic materials are different, having a different resonance, they demand respect, they too are sacred, echoes of a past life. Visually very powerful, deep with connotations. As various element combine, they lose their original meaning or purpose and they morph into new works.

His own input comes when the objects start to symbolise something, a temple or maybe a native American ceremonial object etc, he then pushes the creativity in that direction. The use of feathers, bones, shells, organic materials, cannot avoid taking on a tribal indigenous feel.

He is influenced by people that remain connected to the earth and live naturally. Their resourcefulness and creativity astound him. On a sub conscious level this exudes from his work. A recent piece incorporates rocks suspended from rope draped over another rock, looking as though the friction of the rope is cutting into the granite, a reflection of an earlier life living on a narrow boat, noting how friction has cut into the iron that protects a bridge’s stone edges. The suspended rocks also linking in with island black houses, holding nets taught a the thatch roof. Two sub conscious influences coming together in a work that has nothing to do with what the artist had intended, but now the work has taken those two aspects, the artist allows this to happen, not seeking to control it.

Johnathan is intrigued by the very matter which all things are made of – “If you want to know the meaning of the universe, think in terms of energy frequency and vibration” - Nikola Tesla.

This statement perfectly describes his sound sculpture installation work where he creates environments using objects, sound, frequency and vibration as metaphors for matter in its simplest form = Energy. He make sound visible, the unseen perceived and the non-physical felt!

Over the past 3 years he has been integrating organic finds within his installations. Combining (seemingly) solid physical matter with vibrational frequency, exploring the interplay of the two and the connotations and questions that arise “if the bones reflect mortality what do the vibrational frequencies represent?”

In his latest body of work, recently shown at Baile an Cille, Johnathan has been engaging with is audience,  “…feedback has been remarkable, many illuminating conversations have been raised about my work, resulting in a confidence that my new way of working is indeed succeeding.”

The artist's 'Lifeblood' comes from this feedback, the perceptions of a diverse range, of ages, cultures, faiths and professions etc. from Pagan to schoolchild, Buddhist to crofter, physicist to Christian. Each viewer with differing backgrounds perceiving the works in similar ways but are placing their own interpretations upon it. With normally opposed ideals, it feels as though bringing the materials together can bring people together, all correct in their own interpretation.

"I love being open to all and try not to be restricted by opinions and beliefs, it enriches my life and practice to be open to other people’s ways."

Generally, feedback is about mortality, contemplating spiritually, connecting to the natural world and ecological impact. Feelings of inspiration, motivation, moving, emotion, being disturbed, closer to death! warm, connected. People also noting the tribal, spirituality, religious and philosophical influences.

The artist recalls his conversations with visitors during the show...

"They saw temples, shrines fetishes, totems, Jesus! They Interpreted the works as Buddhist, pagan, Aztec, Christian, Hindu, A visitor called the work feminine asked me if I was a shaman, told me the work was constructed beautifully and that it was intricate (I am blessed!)".

The work can be seen as a collection of symbolic metaphors, it can also relate to quantum physics, matter as Energy etc. Each interpretation evoking personal emotions, people have cried, laughed, left physically shaking! They see it! They feel it, the artist has gained his lifeblood.

"I’m searching for patterns and links in their perceptions; they enable me to understand what the works really are. 
The ocean has become a synthetic and natural soup that marine life is losing the battle to live in. We desperately need to reconnect, stop raping and pillaging her natural resources and stop treating her as an infinite dustbin with no comeback.

I cannot compete with nature's epic beauty, but I am inspired by her and more than happy to work with the leftovers. I am grateful for all the life that she sustains including my own. The least I can do is keep her clean.

It is important for me to remain humble and respectful towards the earth, living on such a powerful Island such as Lewis it is easy to feel insignificant when facing nature and her forces head on.

I remember that whilst I love being part of this natural world and I am totally dependent upon it, she does not depend upon me."

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Cruinneachadh Hulabhaig

Artwork aquired for the Hulabhaig Collection of Island Contemporaray Art

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