ART-EDIT 2023 best of sustainability
Metamorphic, 2023
Pastel on Okawara paper, plywood cradle, 97 x 140cm
'Metamorphic' presents the 'frottage' drawing proces resulting from an intimate exchange between the maker, materials and surface, which occurred through a combination of blue pastel shades drawn onto Japanese Okawara paper onto a Lewisian gneiss outcrop in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
Gneiss is a crystalline, metamorphic rock formed by immense heat and pressure deep within the Earth’s crust. Lewisian gneiss is 3.0 - 1.7 billion years old and is found in thrust faults formed during tectonic events that produced Scotland's mountains. The mark making was created through gentle stroking actions onto the sensitive cream paper to reveal the diverse surface tensions displayed in these ancient, weathered rocks. The chosen colour palate creates a visual link to its oceanic location, and I develop my engagement with this cold, harsh environment through my sustained, uncomfortable experience of executing the work. These facets combine to illustrate the cycle of intimate encounter between maker, materials and surface, thereby completing the transformative process.
Matai, 2022
Sanguine Conté crayon and wax on Japanese Okawara paper, plywood cradle, 60 x 85cm
‘Matai’ was created using the frottage drawing process to present an intimate portrait of the Matai tree (Prumnopitys taxifolia) found in the Wanganui region of North Island NZ.
Māori used its wood for carving, making canoes and agricultural implements. They also drank its liquid to treat consumption and as an antiseptic. During rainy periods, beneath its bark, Matai reveals a blood-red under surface. Hence my reasoning behind choosing the several shades of Sanguine Conté crayon (the colour of dried blood) to render the image. Sanguine (Hematite) is a red-brown iron-oxide that allows great subtlety in rendering gradations onto paper and for its ability to create flesh tones. In this work, I wanted to convey the Matai’s subtle complex surface and its responsiveness in how it changes and reveals itself according to atmospheric and climatic conditions. As in traditional life-drawing practices, its rendering in Sanguine emphasises its presence as a living form.
