‘Igneous Faults of an Unknown Age’ is an artistic installation with a focus on printmaking, particularly relief and woodblock printing. For this series, Tom is creating four large-scale abstract block prints, inspired by geological maps, to reflect the intricate web of fault lines beneath the earth. These prints are made using a single carved wooden block, with black oil-based ink applied to thick, light-coloured fabric that has been dyed with local soil pigments, resulting in a natural ‘tide-dye’ effect. The installation will hang above the glen walkway, allowing viewers to walk beneath the art, and celebrates the uniqueness and immediacy of printmaking through its repetitive yet distinct images. The overall theme connects the artwork to the geological aspects of the Kelburn area, inviting contemplation to the unseen elements beneath the surface.

Tom Matthews is a printmaker originally from northeast England but now based in Glasgow. His practice concentrates on how measured ways of understanding and representing space and place can connect with the more qualitative ways we experience them. He has a strong interest in maps as aesthetic and sociological documents that reflect our shifting relationship with geography, and engage with this idea in my practice. The practice and tradition of printmaking is important to him, as a technique that combines fine art with craft, creating artist communities through shared use of equipment.