Bergosa, Aragón, 2023

In summer 2023 I undertook a self-directed residency in Aragon, a region in northeast Spain bordering the Pyrenees. Staying in the small village of Banaguas outside Jaca, the medieval capital of Aragon, I walked out each day to paint.

Working outdoors is integral to my practice. Carrying limited materials, I often walk in search of remote landscapes and abandoned places, developing ideas spontaneously in response to my surroundings.

One of the most resonant places I worked was the hilltop village of Bergosa. An ancient settlement whose ruined church dates from around 1100, Bergosa was forcibly depopulated by the Franco regime in the 1960s to make way for a tree plantation connected to a nearby dam project. The violence of this recent history is belied by the beauty of the seemingly timeless ruins — a disconnect that feels both troubling and moving.

Despite its history, Bergosa has not been forgotten. Families of former inhabitants continue to visit, and the festival of St Saturnine, the village’s patron saint, is still celebrated each year. There is drinking water at the restored spring and a place to sit in the shade overlooking the Pyrenees. These gestures of care and remembrance speak to the resilience of the local community and give the village an uncanny sense of continued life.