cloud studies PROJECTS

acid rain 2021
charcoal drawing on paper, collage, gouache, wood panel
322 x 248 mm

grey 2021
charcoal drawing on paper, collage, gouache, wood panel
322 x 248 mm

turbulence 2021
charcoal drawing on paper, collage, gouache, wood panel
322 x 248 mm

sometimes I get lonely for a storm 2021
charcoal drawing on paper, collage, gouache, wood panel
322 x 248 mm

dusk nimbostratus 2021
charcoal and pastel drawing on paper, pencil, collage, gouache, wood panel
322 x 248 mm

ionosphere 2021
charcoal drawing on paper, collage, gouache, wood panel
322 x 248 mm

untitled 2021
lead, paint, wood panel
252 x 202 x 20 mm

untitled (black grid drawing) 2020
pencil, gouache, charcoal
615 x 535 mm

untitled (blue grid embroidery) 2020
atw wool yarn on belgian linen, sumi ink
302 x 238 mm

untitled drawing 2020
charcoal, pastel, pencil on awagami hoshu paper
870 x 640 mm

iso (white grid drawing) 2020
encaustic gesso, gouache, pencil on paper
572 x 467 mm

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Five Walls Gallery Melbourne 12 April – 1 May 2021

112 days of enforced isolation.

Unable to see the ocean, the sky became increasingly resonant, a beautiful and seemingly endless space for connection and contemplation during confinement. Infinite openness. Looking up thinking of Constable and Delacroix, and then all of the other clouds: bushfire smoke, radiation, toxic. Changing light. A quiet sky without vapour trails.

In my studio, I continued to draw, continued to make things. Mark making with charcoal, etching needles and other tools creating drypoint lines drawn in cotton rag paper. Scratches and weathering, intricate textures inspired by the landscape, walls and battle-scarred sharkskin. Always thinking of the ocean. Gentle colour gradations: grey, white, blue and black. Grids. Rhythm and texture. Tension between softness of materials, and fuzzy precise geometric constructions: repetitive, painstaking, physical work. Making and unmaking. Visibility and invisibility. Reflecting. Beauty at the edge of nothingness.

Cloud Studies takes its title from the seven small collages/drawings in the exhibition, in the same way an album may be titled after a particular song. Beauty at the edge of nothingness is a quote from Leonard Koren. You’ll find it on page 49 of Wabi-Sabi Further Thoughts (Imperfect Publishing, 2015).