» undergrowth (2022) graphite, wax, magazine ink on rice paper, 73 x 112 cm
Folhas do Inverno (Winter leaves)
Folhas do Inverno (Winter leaves) is a body of work that has been in development since early winter 2021, encapsulating traces of foliage collected from the woods close to my family’s home in Dorset, UK. The process of frottage attempts to preserve something already decomposing using a variety of unusual material techniques including melting wax on magazine ink.
Seasons are signposts, visible reminders of our natural rhythms. In Japanese aesthetics, the emotional elements of beauty have great importance. A traditional Japanese saying reads; “With the fall of a simple leaf we know that autumn is here”. Wabi is about finding beauty in simplicity, and a spiritual richness and serenity in detaching from the material world. Sabi is concerned with the passage of time, with the way that all things grow and decay and how ageing alters the visual nature of those things. It is the representation of the way all things evolve and perish and can evoke an emotional response in us, often tinged with sadness, as we reflect on impermanence. Although Sabi is concerned with how the passage of time manifests itself physically in objects, its deeper meaning hints at what is hidden beneath the surface of an actual item that we see. Sabi beauty reminds us of our own connection with the past, of the natural cycle of life and of our very own mortality.
In loving memory Roy Fraser, my father who passed away on 06/02/23
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» autumn (2022) leaves, wax,
magazine ink on japanese rice paper, 49 x 49 cm |
» exuberant dichotomy (2022)
watercolour frottage on Japanese rice paper, 61 x 53 cm |
The selection of works above are showing in the exhibition WHITE & GOLD at Hatch Gallery, 26th February - 24th March 2023
Transcript from Artist talk held on 26th Feb 2023