New work comes out of my residency at Drawinternational, in France last summer (July 2010), located in a tiny isolated village in the South west part of France called Caylus. The mandate of this residency is to stimulate new directions of work particularly through exploratory drawing in the widest sense of the word. I share with you some of this process.
| A Caylus spiral spiral staircase behind “l’eglise” connecting two levels of the town which geographically resembles a pimple in a trough. Although the history of the town includes the Hundred years War, this probably was built relatively recently (19th century?). |
Cut paper negative and postive shapes out of the circle attempting to deconstruct the structure of the staircase. Then playing with the shapes. One of the reasons I pursued this form was to continue the exploration of circular themes which I’ve been working with for the last f ew years.. At best one can only see or photograph fragments of the staircase; drawing is the only way to represent the emotional experience of the staircase. Even a sculpture would be a stageset, but would be missing the change from light to darkness to light again, or the sense of confinement. |
Untitled drawing, 2010, willow charcoal on Uchiyama washi 63 x 45cm
| STONES OF CAYLUS Everywhere in Caylus were structures of limestone- the stones in any one structure were sometimes of remarkably disparate shapes and sizes, yet they fit together precisely. There was no doubt in my mind that the rough surface and varied shapes and sizes were the product of a particular and deliberate aesthetic. |
| Back home, the process of distillation starts. Working with the previously carved woodblock comprising a rectangular grid I concentrated at first on the colours of Caylus’ stone. Then when preparing for an exhibition, I decided to put a couple of prints together to create a folded paper relief. From there it became a free standing form.This piece (seen from four angles) seems to capture some of the architectural qualities of the church as well which I recognized after the fact. |
Stones of Caylus 2010, mokuhanga on Uchiyama washi 40 x 20 x 29cm
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