rock frottage
Falls, 2025
coloured pigment, Awagami Kitakata Gampi paper, wax, on plywood cradle; 80cm x 120cm
Falls, 2025 is a literal recording of rocks scoured by a waterfall using the frottage drawing process. It captures the power of water to erode, scar and etch the surface, resulting in a swirling image more reminiscent of the cascading water than a represention of the etched rock. This work uses the sense of touch, handmade Japanese paper and coloured pigment to express the intimate exchanges that have taken place amongst the sounds and surfaces, the environment and atmosphere, the materials and maker.
Metamorphic, 2023
coloured pigment, Awagami Okawara paper, wax, on plywood cradle; 97cm x 140cm
Metamorphic, 2023 was made using the 'frottage' drawing process to transform the tactile surface textures into a visible artefact on paper. This process resulted from pigment being drawn onto Japanese paper that was laid onto a Lewisian gneiss outcrop at Scolpaig, North Uist, Outer Hebrides. 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 the Caledonian mountains.
The mark making was created through gentle stroking with pigment sticks onto the delicate paper to expose the fissures etched into these ancient, weathered rocks. The chosen colour palate creates a visual link to the roar of its oceanic location where I experience this cold, harsh environment through a sustained, uncomfortable execution of the work. These facets of bodily engagement contribute to the transformative process of intimate encounter between maker, materials, environment and surface.
