The exhibition, named after Keats’ poem Ode to Autumn, immerses viewers in a vivid autumnal world, where the richness of foliage and the decay signaling the arrival of winter are brought to life. Through her evocative paintings, Wilson navigates a natural world lost to modern Anglo-American society, one where strange creatures roam freely, entwined with the landscape.
Georg Wilson’s artistic practice immerses viewers in the cyclical rhythms of nature, where life, growth, death, and resurrection unfold in a continuous dance. With a profound reverence for the forces of the natural world, her work explores the interplay of seasons and their impact on both land and spirit.
Drawing on John Keats’s The Last Oozings, Wilson’s exhibition becomes an ode to autumn, capturing the moment when vibrant reds and greens give way to warm yellows and deep browns, marking the retreat of abundance as the land prepares for the quiet of winter.
Wilson’s creative vision is deeply rooted in a sense of place, informed by ancient English folklore, poetry, and painting. Her landscapes, brimming with life yet devoid of human presence, are inhabited instead by wild creatures that coexist harmoniously with the environment. Central to this vision is the oak tree, a symbol of endurance and guardianship in British folklore.
In Wilson’s work, the oak tree emerges as a central figure, shaping the landscape and becoming the protector of a realm inhabited by fantastical, wild beings. In The Wet (After Ophelia) (2024), a creature rests in a swamp, echoing the reclining tree in Of Autumn (2024), where another wildling embraces its own symbiotic relationship with the land. This figure, clutching saplings, may be seen as a guardian of the oak, perhaps even the one who planted the acorn that grew into its mighty form.
The artist’s approach to texture and mark-making is integral to her world-building, uniting the natural elements and figures in her landscapes. Each brushstroke, swirling and overlapping, captures the ethereal light of an early autumn morning in England, with gilded hues that evoke the warmth of the season. Wilson’s palette, reminiscent of that of British painter Samuel Palmer (1805–1881), imbues the countryside with a sense of nostalgia, yet her work also suggests a non-human world, untouched by human ownership or exploitation—an environment that thrives when left to flourish in its own time and rhythm.
Artist: Georg Wilson
