Looking at the Overlooked

graphite & putty eraser/30x20cm

Featuring another of the ‘roadkill’ diptych drawings, this one again processed from a found object accidentally-but-apparently-deliberately compressed into an arrangement of sharp folds that lend it an appearance of a sequence of overlapping planes & multiple viewpoints within the same virtually two-dimensional form, in something of the Cubist manner. This drawing is unique to date in being processed entirely from the object itself, without reference also to a photo-reproduced source (essentially found the can & began the drawing on a Saturday, thus without access to the work’s photocopier!): even allowing for a pretty constant light source, as is the way with things in the world, the surface was subject to various fluctuations-as-observed & thus the finished drawing represents this, being a composite record of decisions & marks made & reappraised, of time spent 'looking at the overlooked'.

Beyond the confines of the personal project, the July issue of ‘Artists & Illustrators’ magazine includes a substantial feature on the subject of drawing &, more particularly, artists using pencil as their medium, amongst whose number is Marie Harnett, whose work I’ve enthused about previously. The article provides a welcome opportunity to engage once again with Marie’s exquisitely rendered & detailed drawings - which remain things of wonder, elegance & beauty, creating a sensual world into which one might escape - & also to read in the artist’s own words an enlightening selection of conceptual & technical issues (note to self: track down a more refined eraser for fine-detail work such as the roadkill cans series) – good stuff.

Soundtrack:


Low 'Secret Name', 'Things We Lost in the Fire' & 'owL'
Mazzy Star 'So Tonight That I Might See'