Whether I’m working on design, illustration or visual art, I love delving into the subject matter. So I’ve done a lot of research for my Tower Gallery artist residency, a project about the place itself.
In week 4, I’ve been reading the building, literally as I’ve taken a closer look at the letterforms in the dedication stones through relief printing and sketching in one of the big sketchbooks I bound in week 2. I’ve peered at the patterns in the architectural ceramics, marvelled at the underside of the bell tower dome, spotted skills in the gallery seating and noticed the complexity in the apparently oval projection window.
It’s been interesting to revisit these knowing a lot more about the building than I did. But it’s also shown me how useful the physical processes of drawing and making are for looking at something in more depth.
There’s been more experimentation too, and community, building craft related materials passed to me to try: iron filings – I’m interested to find out what happens when they oxidise – grey clay and for the bigger mark-making I’ll need for my drawings, bold chunks of charcoal and graphite.
All of these materials have been unpredictable – and in times when we’re tempted to snack on information, skim the surface for an overview and create with minimum input, it’s been a thought-provoking thing to do the opposite, trusting the process to reveal something interesting. From heritage has come discovery – and that’s entirely consistent with a building designed to look back and be thoroughly modern.
For more pictures from my residency, head over to Instagram.
