Hamish Fulton

Hamish Fulton is a self-characterized ‘walking artist’. He works with painting, sketching, drawing and text-based methods to create pieces that sensorially evoke the experience of his walks. Working in tranquil color palettes, Fulton traces alpine outlines, while abstract mountain motifs might be cut in wood fragments and small fragments of a particular landscape that he photographed may be included. Text is frequently overlayed or woven into these aesthetic recordings, with words reflecting his subjective experience of these journeys. Calming and meditative, these works reflect Fulton’s deep-rooted desire for a sense of connection with nature. This passion was instigated in the 1960s whilst Fulton was studying at St Martin’s School of Art. During breaks, Fulton travelled to Montana and South Dakota and durational walks in these landscapes ignited a sense of intimacy with nature. Aiming to distance himself from the Land Artists, Fulton always leaves the habitats he encounters unscathed, no mark is left in the landscape except for his footprints. Counterculture mountaineers such as Doug Scott and Wojciech Kurtyka serve as foundational figures for Fulton, and Indigenous relationships to land also function as guides for his ongoing practice. In the artist’s own words ‘My art is a passive protest against urban societies that alienate people from the world of nature’, and he hopes his art will inspire others to follow in his footsteps.