Blood from Stone is a body of work produced by Justin Carter during a residency in Fineshade Wood, Northamptonshire. The work is inspired by the regional relationship between Oak and Ore. During an intensive research period the site was identified as an area of ancient industry - iron smelters having been fuelled by the abundance of wood fuel from Rockingham Forest.
Transforming this relationship into the visual, Carter combined oak galls and tree bark with rust removed from dragline buckets used in local quarries. The resulting ink was used to create prints suggesting life forms or taxonomic specimens.
This artefact formed part of the group exhibition 'Practicing Landscape: Land, Histories and Transformation', 25 January - 22 March 2020. This exhibition brings together the work of sixteen The Glasgow School of Art researchers, who are part of a research group called ‘Reading Landscape’. Artists include Nicky Bird, Susan Brind, Justin Carter, Alan Currall, Marianne Greated, Michail Mersinis, Christine McBride, Shauna McMullan, Lesley Punton, Frances Robertson, Ross Sinclair, Michael Stumpf, Amanda Thomson, Gina Wall and Hugh Watt. The Reading Landscape Research Group was initiated in June 2014 by Susan Brind (Reader in Contemporary Art: Practice & Events, Department of Sculpture & Enviromental Art) and Nicky Bird (School of Fine Art). The research group, based in GSA’s School of Fine Art (SoFA), provides a context for Fine Art practice and research interests through a programme of research seminars, and knowledge exchange in addition to practice-led research projects.