24 November 2014

Sketchbook walk - some Eastcastle Street galleries

Inside the boxes, crystals have formed - they are napthalene, the chemical used in mothballs, which Aiko Miyanaga uses to shape objects that are then trapped within glass: "the naphthalene sublimates and re-solidifies to release itself from the shape of the [objects]. Instead of disappearing into air, it is continuously crystallised through the conditions of temperature and humidity". Other objects are ceramic, in her show at White Rainbow.

Drawn from the other side, the trapped shoe seemed to "need" the view of the street -

At Art First, "Moon" - always an appealing topic for an exhibition.
Douglas White, White Moon I, 2014, wax, pigments, lightbox

Caroline Gibson, from Galileo Series, indian ink on paper
(plus a shadowy reflection of the photographer)

Detail from Simon Lewty, Reverie of Lunar Seas, ink and acrylic on paper

Chang Eung-Bok, Hanging moon fabric (cotton organdy)
My favourite in the show was Bridget Macdonald's "Tree with Daylight Moon" (via) - the actual tree stands near her birthplace at the southern tip of the Isle of Wight, and is buffeted by the salty wind -
My drawing was of Douglas White's other moon, suspended between glass in a wood frame; he "drew" it by dropping wax - all the wax from a single candle - onto water (carefully, after practice, with skill ... my drawing is lamentably less careful and skilled) -

No drawing went on at Carroll Fletcher, though the light works of James Clar were pretty to look at -
Freefall v9
Rain under Lampost
Liquid Viscosity

At Pi Artworks, the work of Susan Hefuna - works on paper alongside palm wood structures and bronze works, influenced by the streets of Cairo, which has been a reoccurring element within her practice.
I sat on the floor and drew the tower in charcoal and (right centre, below) in pastel, knowing the charcoal would transfer to the opposite page, whereas the waxy pastel hardly transferred at all. This left a space for the pencil drawing (left centre) of the structure's construction - square panels made of sticks inserted into holes in the crossbars, a time-consuming technique for such a improvised, temporary look. The panels are tied together with string.

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"Fragile and porous cross-hatch layers"

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