Landscape painting is the bedrock of British art. In comparison, British landscape sculpture can hardly be said to exist. Perhaps it was invented by Richard Long, the first man to bring countryside indoors. Felt rather than seen in his own works, Long invented an artistic persona for an entire generation: the lone hiker, marking his sites as he walks, by drawing, mapping, photography and another activity best considered as clandestine monumentalism. It is hardly surprising that when Blacker began making landscapes she employed a recurring motif – a figure looking into the distance, shielding his eyes to get a better view. Like Long, the traveller in Blacker’s sculpture takes visual possession of nature as he moves through it, making certain where he is and where he wants to be. Blacker too was taking stock, pondering over the achievement of Richard Long and offering a critique of it.

Stuart Morgan Base and Summit 1983