Cannot Be Contained - #1
Cannot Be Contained - Mixed media triptych with barbed wire.
Cannot Be Contained grew from my fascination with the hidden intelligence of forests.
Reading about Mother Trees, mycorrhizal networks, and the vast web of fungal connections beneath our feet changed the way I thought about nature.
What appears separate above ground is, in reality, part of an ancient community sustained by cooperation, communication, and exchange.
This triptych became an intuitive response to that discovery.
Rather than illustrating scientific ideas, I wanted to evoke the unseen energy that flows through landscapes, connecting trees, plants, fungi, water, and soil into one living system.
Layers of deep blues, greens, textured surfaces, and shifting forms suggest both the visible world and the mysterious life that exists just beneath it.
The title, “Cannot Be Contained”, reflects another thought that emerged while making this work.
Since the invention of barbed wire, we have attempted to divide landscapes, contain animals, establish borders, and separate ourselves from nature.
Yet nature continually reminds us that it refuses confinement. Rivers change course, forests regenerate, fungi spread unseen, and climate ignores the boundaries we create.
This idea extends beyond the painted surface into the structure of the work itself.
Rather than enclosing the painting within a conventional frame, I deliberately left it open above and below, framing it only on the two sides.
By resisting the traditional act of surrounding the artwork, the piece remains visually and conceptually unconfined.
The exposed edges allow the work to breathe beyond its physical boundaries, echoing the way forests and mycorrhizal networks extend without regard for the borders we impose.
The strand of barbed wire fixed across the base becomes both a physical and symbolic gesture.
It speaks of humanity's enduring desire to control and contain, while the open frame quietly argues the opposite.
Life continues to move beyond every barrier.
Beneath every forest floor, only inches below our feet, an extraordinary network quietly sustains the living world, reminding us that everything is connected, and that nature can never truly be contained.
Artist: Shane Garton
Title: “Cannot Be Contained - #1”
Medium:Acrylic and Mica on canvas.
Size:This is a vertical triptych.
The bottom canvas size is: 30 × 30cm - the middle canvas size is: 30 × 15cm and the top canvas size is: 30 × 10.16cm - the bottom and middle canvas is 3.5cm thick, top canvas is 1.5cm thick which create the illusion of a step.
Total Size Including Frame: 59.5 × 34.5cm
