928 11 sided irregular shapes
Back once again on the kitchen table. The repetitive act of making these seems more important than the finished/abandoned piece.
White pencil on black recycled card.
A1
Archives for posts with tag: Pencil
Accumulated’ second version. Many offset layers are added in the hope of achieving a solid, almost sculptural feel.
White pencil on black recycled card
A1
Detail of centre:
I’m continuing this lockdown series, accumulating shapes in ordered and chaotic formations.
A0
Mixed media on black recycled card.
Detail:
AO
White pencil on recycled card.
Irregular forms repeated around a fixed point.
Detail:
I’m continuing to draw from our flat in these weird locked down days. Two upcoming shows have been postponed indefinitely. The act of drawing is respite from thought; labour intensive activity to become lost in. This drawing has a star chart/night sky feel, employing several techniques. It’s currently composed of four A1 sheets of black card and feels like I could keep adding further sheets to it until our entire living space is consumed.
Detail I
Detail II
Studio Space
Drawing I
Drawing II
These wall drawings were rendered with pencil. It operates in a more subtle, elusive register than chalk. The viewer is forced to look closer and from different angles to discern the complete shape of the work.
I experiment with the inclusion of resonant objects in keeping with drawing. For example, in a recent studio critique I included two small pieces of metal, one a triangle and one a parallelogram placed on the floor. Their forms informed these drawings. I interrogate chosen objects and their exact placement in their environment.
Drawings are ephemeral, planned to be made, rigorously documented and painted over. I do not want to overly prescribe how the works should or should not be read. The work is richer if it invites multiple interpretations. Subtle clues can be given but I find strength through ‘undecidability.’
Documentation of piece in progress on the walls of my studio space in the Orpheus building in the Belfast school of art. The building is to be demolished in June.
I set myself the parameters of only using black conte crayon to trace, and pencil to transfer marks. Traced marks were only to be from sources present in the MFA studio environment, such as cracks in the floor and plasterwork and stains from spilt paint. The majority of marks come from traced knots in plywood boards. I like their shapes, and on a deeper level am intrigued by how they mark the passage of time and growth of the trees that were used to make the wood.
The tracings are transferred to the wall several times, the marks become fainter each time. Sometimes the pieces of tracing paper are loaded with crayon again to achieve a darker line. It is a fragile and delicate material to use, it often rips when a sharp point of a pencil passes across it.
This is the last in the recent series of drawings from around 2001 that I have decided to post. It is a view of the old part of Belmont primary school in Belfast that I attended in the 1980s. It’s drawn from a photograph of the building in strong sunlight. The shadows and darkness have been exaggerated in my usual way, so that it appears quite oppressive and prison like.
Translates as “the city lies in dust.” This is a large piece on wood currently on show as part of Cathedral Studios ten year anniversary exhibition at the Water front hall in Belfast. This image Contains a reworking of 3 Black Flags, an earlier piece. The exhibition runs until the 30th of August.
John Macormac 