reaching into wide open spaces

 

I did this piece 6 years ago one of a series of about 20 collages. It has remained with me as a link to something else all this time but I've not had an idea of what really it could become, many thoughts have come and gone, many crazy ideas of huge canvases filling a beautiful gallery space.

I now know through experience and practise that if I keep on drawing then something will come, as long as I am prepared to follow hunches and jump into opportunities that come up whether they are just choosing different materials to use or visiting a particular show or reading a book I hear about on the radio - all this contributes to a slow emergence of what is really a continuation of an idea that was first realised years ago (even this idea came out of something so its not the start of something but also a continuation ...and it goes on!).

I actually need these works/ideas as anchors in my practise because they give it foundation, reference and authenticity because they grow with me over time, they re-appear in different guises but remain traceable and detectable if you are interested in uncovering them.

In 2014 I now find myself drawing and specifically exploring line and curve. my current statement says 'I am primarily concerned with drawing.  A strong sense of movement, physicality and contrast are key elements as are line and curve' I have arrived here without deliberately making this connection to an early significant piece of work and I love that. Creativity happens regardless of me trying or not trying, so long as I regularly work to allow it to happen.





That's the simple bit: living it is the complicated bit because I must keep working in a state of uncertainty and vulnerability. I don't know how a piece of work is going to turn out and even if or when I do I have no idea of what will come next unless I keep working, trusting and acting on ideas and instincts. This can make working towards an exhibition a risky and really quite stressful business - the tension of what it will look like and how it will curate as a body of work when that body is not yet complete. I have to 'lean' into the unknown and believe in myself.
This is where my anchors help give me firm roots deep into solid ground from there I can stretch and reach beyond myself with my self imposed limits. Reaching into wide open spaces. I would go as far as to say this is my faith.