An Ideal world, 80 x 80 cm, oil on hessian, 2023
Chasing Rabbits, 70 x 55cm, oil on canvas, 2023
Fuse, 100 x 100 cm, oil on canvas, 2023
Spell Bound, 100 x 100 cm, oil on canvas, 2023
Don’t Look Back into the Sun, 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, 2023
Omen, 40 x 30 cm oil on canvas, 2023
Heavy Eyes Purple Skies, 40 x 30 cm, oil on hessian, 2023
Night Ride, 120 x 80 cm, oil on canvas, 2023

Chasing Rabbits

Mark Burch

‘Chasing Rabbits’ explores the mind's tendency to wander, replaying selective thoughts in a dreamlike, filmic loop. Centred around nostalgia, desire and fear, the index in this exhibition originate from VHS footage, found imagery and personal captures that Burch has intricately edited or collaged.

To Burch, the VHS medium's glitches and colour distortions symbolise the mind's imperfect recall where silhouettes and scenes from the past become fleeting yet significant mental imprints. With their grainy, ethereal qualities, his paintings serve as a metaphorical lens that deliberately obscures details to mirror the way in which digital technologies can be corrupted or lost.

Burch was born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire in 1996. In 2017, he completed his BA in Fine Art at Southampton Solent before an MA in Fine Art at Bath Spa University in 2020. After participating in Bath Spa's Emerge residency, he moved to London in 2023.