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The Darkened Valley I
Copperplate on Hahnemuhle paper
20 x 20 cm
Right: The Darkened Valley III
Copperplate on Hahnemuhle paper
20 x 20 cm
SARAH CLIFF
The title of these works is taken from
William Blake's poem Dream Valley: 'And
when night comes I'll go to places fit for
woe, Walking along the darkened valley,
With silent melancholy'. Blake's poem and
Palmer's Shoreham works express the
meditative, uplifting effect of darkness,
with the moon bringing enlightenment and
solace to the dreaming human figure in an
idyllic, organic setting. The Darkened Valley
graphic, contemporary depictions, devoid of
colour, provide a more unsettled vision. The
moonlight bleaches the ploughed, empty
hillside and starkly illuminates the sinuous
trees and riverbank. The reclining dreaming
figure is displaced by agricultural machinery
and mysterious debris takes the place of the
moon. A human figure shoots like a startled
bird into the night sky
W W W . S A R A H C L I F F A R T . C O M
