This output includes three bodies of paintings, conceived as separate projects, that were completed between 2014 and 2020: Heritage of Hydro Power (2 paintings and 1 soundscape); Coastal Power (11 paintings); and Renewables in the Landscape (20 paintings).

The research explores the visual (and, occasionally, aural) impacts of renewable energy generators – often met by negative public reaction – that harness wind, water and solar energies. It documents a landscape as it develops to accommodate sustainable solutions to the climate emergency and asks how painting can engage proactively with issues around sustainability. It explores the long-established history of renewable energy in Scotland – e.g. Norse water wheels from the middle-ages – and contributes to understandings of the particular geographical and weather suitability of the Scottish landscape to the development of renewable energy resources.

Methods include: fieldwork (e.g. observational drawing and photography; audio recordings), working with local communities (Orkney, Shetland, India); studio development through drawing, painting and sound-work; and exhibition as a testing of work in collaboration with curators and art institutions and with a public audience. The research was undertaken in collaboration with scientists (Prof Clive Greated, Edinburgh; Prof KPJ Reddy, Indian Institute of Science).

Building on the traditions of landscape painting, in relation to a long history of documenting man-made interventions (e.g. the drills in Gainsborough’s Mr and Mrs Andrews, 1750), and contributing to a body of work on environmental sustainability by contemporary artists such as Liu Xiadong, Agnes Denes and David Thorpe, this research considers the aesthetics of renewables; part of humanity’s evolving relationship to the land. This output contributes to research on contemporary landscape, particularly in relation to Scotland, by demonstrating the role that visual representation can play in mediating discussions and reconsiderations of the visual impact of renewable and sustainable energy resources.