In week 8 of my Tower Gallery artist residency ‘Reading the building’ there’s been drawing with wire, accidental upholstery, a tiny painting of an enormous sketch and a flower writ large on joined-up sandpaper.
In each process, doing differently has brought fresh insight:
The wire drawings are surprisingly tricky to do, tracing complex shapes by feel, in one line. I’ve noticed the shapes in the metalwork of the building in ways I hadn’t with other media.
Fellow resident Dominique Rivoal, who is working in film and sound, has suggested adding time to my shadow tracings. I’ve brought in cloth, planning to place it where I had been working and do multiple tracings. Then, moving a chair, I’ve noticed the light making an upholstery pattern on its seat so I’ve traced that.
Sue Nash from Tower Gallery has asked for a tiny version of my 1.5m drawing for a mini version of the gallery. It’s been a fascinating exercise in giving something small the scale and freshness of the big piece.
I’ve taken a small detail of the building that you only notice if you look up – and drawn it on joined-up sandpaper given a coat of clay. On this surface, it’s near-impossible to draw in my usual line, which has made me focus on tone.
Next, there will be stitch on the time pieces, preparing the big drawing for display and compilation of slides – and the building might have more stories to show me…
Booking is now open on the Open House website for my talk on my research into the design and crafts of the building; there’s also information on how to join my sketch tour.
