Norwich-based artist Rob Middleton has been active in the global DIY punk scene since the mid-1980s, playing in numerous bands (currently Deviated Instinct and Haavat) and creating artwork for many punk and metal bands and labels. He sees his art and music as inseparable parts of the same creative force. A graduate of Norwich University of the Arts in Visual Studies, Rob was a member of the now-defunct Warehouse Artist Studios collective. His work has been exhibited locally and internationally, including in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and New York. Now focusing on acrylic painting, pen and ink, and watercolour pencil drawings, his recent work draws inspiration from the living environment, merging the raw energy of punk with an appreciation for organic forms and textures. In uncertain times, he hopes his art conveys a sense of resilience and quiet strength in nature. Wild Communion on Feral Ground presents a selection of works by Rob Middleton created over the past five years. The artist works primarily in acrylic on canvas and watercolour pencil on paper, alongside a series of monochrome pen and ink drawings. Middleton’s work draws on his fascination with dark nature - the mystery of being lost among trees and the humbling joy of insignificance before nature’s elder wisdom. Through these images, he offers an escape into a more primal world, far removed from the pace, chaos, and conflict of modern life - a world that too often holds the living earth in low regard. His paintings and drawings remind us that we are only temporary passengers: fleeting presences in a landscape that will endure, regenerate, and remember long after we are gone. In an age where the digital world blurs truth and illusion, Middleton's work offers an escape into a darker, more elemental landscape. He draws inspiration from the secret life of forests - their quiet intelligence, their cycles of decay and renewal, and the arcane wisdom found in all living and dying things. Through his paintings and drawings, Middleton explores the relationship between humanity and nature stripped to its core. Figures are rendered as anatomy or bone, reminders of our impermanence and our place within the greater pattern of life. In returning these forms to the earth,He imagines a kind of restoration - a way for nature to reclaim and heal what has been harmed. His work seeks to uncover the beauty within that transformation, revealing a world that is at once haunting, sacred, and alive.