On the border of Nepal and China lies the highest mountain in the world. In 1924, the British mountaineers George Herbert Leigh-Mallory and Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine attempted to climb to the summit of Sagarmatha. Neither of the men returned from this expedition, they disappeared. In the following years traces of Mallory and Irvine were found, preserved on the icy tracts that the explorers had travelled. They had left their mark on the landscape.

Travelling companions share their fate as is the case of Richard Crooks and myself. In the past we have taken long hikes in the British landscape. No dangers were evident and the chances of getting lost were slim in this gentle and cultivated environment. Our conversations as we walked together have provided the ground work for our understanding of each other and the processes of making art. Essential to Crooks’ artwork is his experience of place. In recent years he has undertaken residencies in Bangladesh, Japan and Nepal. In each location he experiences the land and culture through the processes of walking and cycling – a predominantly bodily encounter.

Crooks is primarily a sculptor – he has worked with the unyielding materials of steel and concrete. These physical methods have been transferred to working with the more pliable mediums of clay and collage. Always moving on and continuing exploration, paper-making has become the central process for his residency at Gallery Mcube. Into the pulp of the paper mush he has impressed fragments from his surroundings, leaving his own traces. His countryman Mallory when asked why he wanted to climb the mountain replied ‘Because it’s there’. This is a motivation behind Crooks work – to experience a place because it is there. However, Crooks selects the places that offer distinct and unique cultural interaction. His artwork is an exchange between fellow travellers and the paths that they follow.