Sumi-e Painting, Gestural Figure Drawings

'I Draw' Collective Exhibition

Through a deep engagement with Life class sessions, this ongoing series explores gestural figure drawings using the traditional Sumi-e concept and medium. A collection of these works were exhibited in the 'I draw' collective exhibition (2012), at the Bank Of Valletta Headquarters in St.Venera, Malta. The following are excerpts of the text which accompanied the works in the exhibition's catalogue, I Draw, 2012, exploring the personal relationship with the act of drawing. "......As I peel through the layers; a story unfolds, going into places which might not always be according to plan...Now I am able to see. I am delving into unknown territory, taking my time to savour each and every new encounter. I'm wondering: if and when I eventually get to the very essence, will I be pleasantly surprised or perhaps mildly disappointed? Or maybe just realise that the journey was indeed more exciting than the destination? The seconds tick by, and the drawing is now wide open. I realise I need to take immediate acion. There's really no turning back, I just can't wrap my things and leave, leaving the drawing to it's own devices - once I start I have to conclude. ...I persist. It's a morbid race against time, one second more, one false move and the drawing is lost. The moment when you're aware that you're losing it, and in panic you make a false move; that stroke which develops into the fatal blow. And then the silence. Or else the elation where with that photo finish mark, that drawing is saved. It makes a sound, and can carry on an independent unaided existence. That's when I know I've arrived to an uninhibited space - free and in blissful realization that the drawings are 'pure' in intent, form and execution. They are floating through space - almost weightless. They're just what they are - no pretentions, existing on their own, in their oasis of calm." I Draw, 2012, Bank of Valletta, Gutenberg Press.
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