 brings together two series of drawings: ‘Body & Light’ and ‘North Light’. The works evoke fleeting moments of illumination in the darkness of the body, the earth, the ocean, or deep space. 

The first series, made in 1990-96, was inspired by regular trips made each year to the southern end of Coniston Water in the Lake District. Completed on small sheets of soaked handmade paper, the drawings are swiftly executed using a Chinese calligraphy brush and black pigment and casein. The pigment disperses at different speeds and densities, enhancing the feelings of immersion. The works, often made at night, convey the sensation of floating in space or diving through deep water. Light plays a major role, acting as a foil to the weight of the ground or body, or, as in the latest series of drawings ‘North Light’, evoking the luminous beginnings of astral matter. The works seem to emerge, rather than be willed into form.

The exhibition celebrates the nature of drawing and its almost limitless possibilities. It communicates the thrill of imaginative exploration and of going to places, whether outer space or inner darkness, not accessible in life.

The Atkinson Gallery

Installation view. Photograph by Paul Greenwood / Norwyn Ltd.

Elemental

Related content

Body And Light