Bronze Age Gold from Wales

End of Ash, Ffynnonofi, Pembrokeshire, Wales, 2020

PERRY, Mike (Artist)

End of Ash depicts ash dieback, an epidemic that could see the death of up to 95% of the UK’s ash trees. This tragedy ravaging the countryside is taking place in the shadow of the global COVID-19 pandemic, so it is happening largely unnoticed. Perry’s work captures the downfall of a species facing mass extinction. The work highlights the significant ecological threat facing British tree species, which in itself is an important document. The work connects with a number of different artworks in Amgueddfa Cymru’s collection including David Nash’s Ash Dome, which is dying from the disease.

This melancholic moonlit photograph captures the dying branches of the ash trees surrounding the artist's studio in North Pembrokeshire. Ash dieback is perhaps the epidemic that has gone unnoticed during the Covid-19 pandemic. This fungal disease, thought to have been introduced by commercial trade in saplings, is a reminder of the need to protect our habitats and ecosystems.

Collection Area

Art

Item Number

NMW A 57672

Creation/Production

Mike Perry is an artist and an activist. He grew up in Pembrokeshire and his work is concerned with raising awareness of the environmental crisis that is happening on our own doorstep. Perry’s photographs examine the interactions between landscape, nature and society. Over the last 20 years his practice has focused on Britain’s national parks and increasingly the immediate surroundings of Pembrokeshire where he lives and works, questioning the romantic mythology of national parks as areas of wilderness and natural beauty. Perry’s photographs have a poetic yet harrowing beauty as they bring into sharp focus the impact of man’s activity on the environment.
Role: Artist
Place: Pembrokeshire
Period: 2020

Measurements

h(cm) paper:220
w(cm) paper:185

Techniques

C-type photographic print

Material

Photograph

Location

On Display
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