MUDEFORD artist Keith Rogers brings his latest exhibition, Fragmentation – The Past Meets the Present, to New Milton’s Forest Arts from Wednesday January 4 for six weeks.

Keith, a former documentary film maker who spent 25 years in California, has created an exhibition in response to the decay he witnessed on a behind-the-scenes tour of Highcliffe’s iconic castle. This new work brings attention to the natural sculpting of aging fragments, the beauty of decay and the story behind it.

Highcliffe Castle has been described as one of the most significant surviving buildings from the Romantic and Picturesque style of architecture but it came close to demolition in the 1970s and 1980s. The conservation process, which began in 2007, is nearly finished and only a few spaces demonstrate the mantra ‘bricks crumble, plaster cracks, iron rusts and wood rots’ that inspired the artwork on show at Forest Arts.

Through photography and mixed media, Keith has created images that focus on geometric structure, colour and their relationship to the frame. Some photographs are ‘as is’ because that is the truth, the wonder of the image. Others have been fragmented by cutting and redistributing the parts to create yet another image – reflecting how the castle was originally constructed using materials gathered from a variety of sources, including French medieval ruins, with some artifacts dating back as far as the 12th century.

The exhibition, which runs until Saturday February 11, enjoys a special preview and talk from Keith at 6pm on Thursday January 5.