'Tracks' are the oldest paintings in the show completed in my foundation year at Hatfield art college. They are based upon a series of walks undertaken in straight lines from my home, through countryside, and finishing at college.

I returned to this rural theme for my degree show with a series of works based on farm objects. 'Handle?' is a sand cast of a pitchfork with its prongs removed, which has then been bent over by its own weight. Hopefully this piece reflects upon the fragility of the small farmer.

Contained within the glass vitrine 'nut' sits as if a museum exhibit of a forgotten industrial age. The piece is handmade from wood and then spray finished in an attempt to perform alchemy through craftsmanship.

'Booth' and 'drum' are both from my first year at university and are experiments with simple forms and light as it appears through sanded styrene.

The diptych 'Orange Pippin Sunset' is based upon an advert by a large supermarket which gave the impression that their eggs were protected from pests by ladybirds. The image displayed a huge succulent apple which I copied and then placed next to another painting of a life-size 'freak' apple from a village orchard.

There are two bales in the show: one 8' round and the other small and 'hand-size'. The bales show the difference in scale between the manual capabilities of some farmers and the mechanical advantages of others. The round bale incorporates blue twine to match the symbolism of water that the willow evokes, and the rectangular bale uses orange string to match the resilience of the ash.

There are three pieces of work, in different media, all related to the theme of second eggs. These are the eggs that supermarkets will not accept due to blemishes of various kinds. The supermarkets give the impression that all free range eggs are purely brown when in fact they come in beautifully diverse colours and forms.

The 'combination piece' echoes the sails of a combine harvester whilst demonstrating botched craftsmanship. I was influenced by how often hi-tech machines are fixed quickly during harvest with any available object in order to get them working.

'Dunce' and 'gear' both relate to the nut in the vitrine in their form, colour and meaning but also address the way in which the gallery places objects. The enormous plinth is ridiculous because the viewer has to stand far from it to see the nut that sits on top. In contrast the gear has merely been discarded on the floor as if not displayed at all.

Gerard Whiteley.