Ian Chamberlain is a printmaker specialising in etching. His subjects have mostly been man-made technological or industrial structures. His work explores the physical remains of certain manmade technologies that are now defunct, re-invented or superseded. In his recent bodies of work he has been focusing on the etching process as a natural extension of his drawing practice, as he feels that etching offers a diversity of mark-making, and a depth of tone that capture the form, volume and surface qualities of the structures he depicts, and at the same time allows him to amplify and enhance his own creative vocabulary.

The etchings of bunkers come from a larger series of works in progress exploring the Atlantic Wall - a system of coastal fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of Europe, stretching over 6000 miles. The Atlantic Wall and its physical traces have a contemporary relevance and a symbolic connection with current social and political debates around visible and invisible barriers and the UK’s impending isolation from the European continent. Some of these visible barriers from the past remain, isolated architectural symbols of permanence slipping into failure, decay and collapse, becoming a visual metaphor of the shifting political, social and environmental landscape.

Chamberlain has said that his work has been heavily influenced by the work of artists such as Morandi, Piranesi, and Rembrandt but also more contemporary practitioners such as Bernd and Hilla Becher and George Shaw. He has said “The most influential work on my practice is that of Giovanni Piranesi, who combined the role of the artist and the archaeologist; aiming to discover and preserve the memory of Rome’s ancient ruins. Piranesi was able to visually restore missing sections of monuments to their original glory. He used etching to witness locations around him, as if he were a wanderer among the ruins in Rome. Etching offered him an ideal means of exploring and recording place. He referred to his use of the process as “speaking evidence”, bringing these architectural ruins to life. This notion of preservation and conservation has driven me to consider my work as a graphic historical record, constantly trying to retain a visual memory.”