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This new body of work continues Torr’s ongoing exploration of the suburban and semi-rural British landscape, bringing focus to the overlooked yet deeply familiar environments that define much of the UK’s built environment.
Drawing from the estate in which he was born, Torr turns his attention to the modest, functional architecture now ubiquitous across the UK. White eaves, UPVC fittings and geometric layouts become the basis for carefully structured compositions that balance between figuration and abstraction. The square format of the canvases further resists the conventions of landscape painting, flattening space and allowing formal elements to assert themselves as autonomous gestures.
Although the absence of figures within the paintings is notable, they carry traces of lived experience. Torr captures the suggestion of life, through lit windows, overgrown paths, or the echoes of habitation. There is a quiet atmosphere running through the work, echoing the sensibility of his earlier paintings of London commons at night. This same quality animates Heartland, drawing attention to the emotional and visual presence embedded in the everyday.
A political undercurrent runs through the work. By focusing on sites that are rarely celebrated in visual culture, Torr engages with the politics of representation. These environments, often dismissed as generic or lacking character, are shown here as spaces worthy of artistic attention. Without romanticising them, Torr reclaims their significance, highlighting the complexity and value of places where lives are lived fully, though often invisibly.
Through this series, Torr extends a subtle but firm invitation: to pause, to look again, and to consider the emotional, social, and painterly potential held within the everyday structures that surround us.
All are welcome to celebrate the opening of ‘Heartland’ on Friday 4 July at Liminal Gallery’s Main Space, 5-8pm.
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