Blackwattle Bay
These drawings are a product of simply observing and considering the visual relationships of those smaller spaces set within the grander panorama of what is the Blackwattle Bay walking path.
Exploring these spaces through drawing, I try to record my marks in an objective frame of mind, documenting objects, light and shadow, tonal values of colour, the patterns found within the bark on trees and of leaves on the ground. My drafting style of tones and marks are applied in layers, delicately drawn and continuously rubbed back and redrawn in an attempt to find the spatial elements within the drawing, giving them a sense of presence and purpose.
As the work progresses, the spatial elements become the focal point of the drawing while drawn objects such as walls, trees and other shapes become conducive to unlocking the subjective possibilities of those spaces. Such conducive elements remind me of how the inner walls of a much loved home serve to nurture family rituals and personal memories.
I guess that metaphorically, these drawings are about my past, growing up as a kid in a small family home with a loving family, a bedroom shared with an older brother, but yearning for a small space of my own which like these drawn spaces, would have become sacred to me.