Dockyard

Selecting material for creative use you would think is easy? The rules governing this virtual artist residency is quite straight forward, in short basically I must use & reference materials retained within the library collection. Upon logging onto the James Ford Bell online library finding aid, you will encounter immediately over 10000 digitized images to select from – to do with as I please. 

Blank canvas syndrome occurs with my creative practice whenever starting a significant new piece of work. The residency has a vague intentionality, trusting the process will take me somewhere. Narrowing the search down with Subject coastline, these incredibly detailed ships on printed maps captured my attention. 

What is a drawing? Initially producing some simple line drawings of these ships and landscapes, I was left with sketches screaming to be pushed further. Would you consider a drawing constructed from cut out paper to still be a drawing? Both the historical context and image origination and clearly lost within this composition, does this matter? Is the information on display reliable, does it tell an audience anything? 

Whilst constructing the ship, the drawing process reminded me of a working dockyard. Gradually introducing new elements to the construction as the ship takes a designed form. Paper drawing (paper collage) is not a new technique; the work of Henri Matisse clearly is referenced within my studio practice. An artist known for ‘intense colorism’, emphasized flattened form and decorative pattern.