On Looking (2011, 2017, 2022 and ongoing) Graphite on paper drawings Each: 10 x 10” (25.5 x 25.5 cm)
A series of drawings focussed on the performative dimension of viewing art.
This work was made in response to the experience of navigating exhibition spaces while visiting the Venice Biennale, noticing myself and others stop to view some artworks at a distance as if meeting an invisible barrier, elsewhere leaning in to scrutinise, shuffling sideways in synchrony, meandering or peering through gaps in the crowd.
Only viewers are depicted within a blank page space – an approach motivated by a recurring interest in the spatial relationship between marked and unmarked areas in painting and drawing. In making this series I was curious about the extent to which the unmarked pictorial space inherits a scale, shape or ambience from the drawn elements.
On Looking is an ongoing series of drawings. The first iteration was developed while participating in Wales in Venice’s Invigilator Plus programme in 2011. Further drawings have been added each subsequent year that I have travelled to the Venice Biennale, using each visit to inform the work. Some of the resulting drawings are exhibited individually, while 20 from each year are kept for installation display. To date, the series consists of works dating from 2011, 2017 and 2022, with future additions intended.
While the subject, of people viewing art, remains consistent, there are changes which become apparent as the series grows over time. For example, there is a notable shift in the devices that are carried and used, from digital point-and-shoot cameras and DSLRs in the earlier drawings, to smartphones, tablets and selfie sticks in the more recent ones. Drawings from 2022 depict several figures wearing masks, reflecting practices adopted in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
