Introducing Peter Elsdon-Dean: Rural Realism in Miniature

Dugouts, dumped rubbish, and burned-out cars - New Blood Emerging Art Prize nominee Peter Elsdon-Dean's miniatures offer a stark view of rural life.
At first glance, the miniature models of Peter Elsdon-Dean (a De Montfort Fine Art BA 2023 graduate) depict everyday scenes of the British countryside. But look closer, and something is amiss. These scenes seethe with uncertain foreboding, subverting pleasant pastoral notions of rolling green hills, meadow flowers and happily grazing livestock. Inviting comparisons with the Chapman brothers' disturbing miniatures 'Hell', 'Disasters of War' and 'The Sum of All Evil', unlike the fraternal provocateurs Peter's work merely suggests the presence of the human, leaving the horrors entirely to the imagination.
Peter is an exciting emerging artist to keep a close eye on over the next few years.

'Accumulated Rubbish' by Peter Elsdon-Dean

'Dumped' by Peter Elsdon-Dean

In 'Accumulated Rubbish', the presence of a police vehicle provides an immediate spike of macabre curiosity, as the open doors of the barn with its darkened, unseen interior hinting at dark mysteries within. Similarly, the open door of the transit van in 'Dumped' hides whatever may or may not be inside, whilst the sharply pollarded trees in the background have been rendered lifeless, adding a sinister element to a scene that may be as simple as a depiction of the illegal dumping of household waste.

'Abandoned' by Peter-Elsdon-Dean

'Left Behind' by Peter Elsdon-Dean

As with 'Abandoned', it is the ambivalence of not knowing that lends the scenes their power, as the car's broken windows could indicate a night of violence or the slow disintegration of an unwanted vehicle. In 'Left Behind', it's again not entirely clear what it is that has been left behind - is it the head of a dead animal, or just bags of rubbish? And who has built the earthwork structure of 'Dug Out' - a World War I enthusiast or an avid doomsday prepper? Could be they be inside, watching, just out of sight?

'Dug Out' by Peter Elsdon-Dean

Taking the 'unknown and unseen' as his themes, this immediate not knowing in Peter's work is linked to a wider ignorance surrounding the countryside and rural life, skewed by idealised visions that obscure the realities of crime, poverty and hardship that run rampant. In isolated farms and insular communities, much goes unspoken and unacknowledged. Captured from every angle with such precision, finally the unseen is rendered uncompromisingly visible, whilst skilfully balancing elements of mystery and unease.

Peter's work is available for purchase and will be dispatched after July 2nd when his degree show finishes.