Drawing and making

Drawing and making have always been a touchstone for me.  As the more traditional forms, they promote an easier understanding between the work and the audience.  As skills, it delights me to use them.  They are also process:  time spent doing.  My Installations are like paintings, except they occupy a 3D space.  They use colour and line as in the wake of the plough in “And Tír na nÓg Dances On”, or “In-and-Out House” in Annamakerrig.  They are figurative, as in “Absent:  The Coat Piece” or “Urban Foxes”.  Making allows the scope to “build” abstract ideas into tangible form, and Installation extends this idea to include the context of the situation.  Built objects have a presence which engages the audience at their scale, in their own space.  In installation, the sculpture forms part of the environment in which it stands and becomes one with it.  It does not demand more attention than its surroundings nor is it diminished by them.

Drawing, in particular, is an important element for me:  I have moved from life drawing (And Tír na nÓg Dances On) through drawing in paint (Field, Big Sky,), installation drawing (School Daysies), to abstract (Elements).  My drawing has come full circle and I am drawing figuratively again (Trees, Sheds, Grass).  Drawing provides me with an opportunity to study – not only what I can see but also the pictures in my mind.