Clare Woods is fascinated by the accumulated intensity of the past... Her symbolic landscapes are humanised through palpable emotions and unseen presences enmeshed within them. They cast a dark hue on any conciliatory visions of nature, hinting at our struggle to control and tame it. In her work, Woods uses the innate fear and awe we have of nature and our highly developed capacity to project our desires onto it. Woods’ paintings have a hybrid quality comprising abstraction and figuration. They are derived from photographs she takes of rural folk traditions and supernaturally charged places. Her paintings are intimate, desolate and indeterminable, depicting complex and ambiguous spaces while foregrounding formal qualities that employ both control and chance. Published by Koening Books, London, in 2006 to accompany the exhibition of the work of Clare Woods which took place at the Chisendale Gallery in London. This is an unread copy in very good condition. It is signed by the author.