Thriller Abounds in Lee Madgwick’s Uncanny Work of Derelict Buildings

Grass appears to be growing upwards onto a small brick house in the middle of a field

“The Veil.” All photos © Lee Madgwick, shared with permission

A way of unease surrounds the buildings in Lee Madgwick’s work, their sides crumbling or coated in thick vegetation as they stand alone in fields or swamps. The uncared for buildings seem lifted from cities and cities and dropped instantly into rural landscapes, the place nature slowly envelops their brick facades or sprouts timber from their eaves. “I’m endlessly drawn to locations of abandonment and isolation,” Madgwick tells Colossal. “I’m compelled to discover these enigmatic wonders. There’s a poignancy and an unwavering silence and fragility that hangs within the air.”

Containing solely remnants of human life, the scenes immediate questions in regards to the buildings’ origins and caretakers. Some items, like “The Veil,” depict a house long-deserted by inhabitants as thick vines cowl the decrease home windows, whereas others like “Fen View” counsel that folks stay, as a small window is neatly trimmed out of an overgrown hedge.

Working in what he phrases “imagined realism,” the artist makes use of a mixture of water-mixable oil and acrylic paints layered through the course of a number of weeks. “The skies are painted with the palms of my fingers and fingertips. It’s probably the most expressive a part of the method,” he shares. “Along with a brooding sky and concentrated mild a way of drama is shaped and a story is about in movement.”

Madgwick has a solo present slated for October at Brian Sinfield Gallery in Burford, Oxfordshire. Till then, discover his work on Instagram and store limited-edition prints on his site. (by way of This Isn’t Happiness)

Overgrown hedges are cut to reveal a house window in the center of the foliage

“Fen View”

“The Flood”

A round brick home rests atop a concrete base with a janky ladder ascending toward the entrance

“Summer season Home”

A brick gate like building stands at the end of a road with nothing behind it

“Gatehouse”

A mishmash of buildings with graffiti stands in a round tower surrounded by a fence in the middle of a field

“Kingdom”

A small piece of a building facade with a tunnel for a river to run through stands in the middle of a field, a boat in the foreground

“Fragments”

#landscape
#Lee Madgwick
#nature
#painting

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