Drawing with Wood

Merry Christmas

Cold and Christmas slowing things down, hope to get things in order come next year.

Drawing an Illusion

I was quite excited when I stumbled across Susan Collis’s work. She is using Marquetry in her work in a way I had been leaning towards and after my initial reaction of ‘oh that’s a bit annoying she’s done what I wanted to do’ I identify the differences in her approach as well as similarities. So I got over that and have become more interested in her work and where she is coming from.

Collis uses (amongst other things) Marquetry/ inlay techniques to create the illusion of marks on surfaces such as chairs, walls, floors. The imperfections are highlighted in things through their replication in precious materials such as gold, pearls and gem stones. So a reference to very early marquetry which was more about inlaying precious materials into wood (rather than being confined to veneer) is apparent.

Drawing seems essential to Collis’s work which is a lot about mark making. Importantly though acknowledging a sense of time and labour is something the work communicates too. Craftsmen working several centuries ago (16-1800’s) invested unbelievable amounts of time to single pieces. Working on incredibly intricate designs for extravagant furniture this kind of craftsmanship is virtually unheard of today. Collis’s subtly marked work tables, step ladders and overalls highlights the investments made to the art making process the values placed upon this and the objects themselves.

I think importantly the illusion is not created as an end in itself unlike more traditional uses of marquetry trickery, which are easy to move on from once you get the joke. There is a lot more beyond the surface of things.

Collis is showing at the V and A in a very slick looking craft exhibition.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1637_outoftheordinary/artists_detail.php?artistTag=collis

Anyway I’d cut this tea stain mark that I’ve been trying to photograph on a dry day and I got around to it at last.

Cardboard Inlay

Inlaying veneer has led me to creating some pieces using other materials. I have been producing some work in cardboard, mainly cereal packaging using their visuals to make little pictures. Using the window method similar to that with ‘normal’ marquetry I am finding this quite enjoyable.

The images I am lifting are in various forms representations of the nature and farming and seem relevant my way of working and interests. I’m not entirely sure where these are going but are allowing me to think in some different directions whilst making connections and references to other areas of my own work. I am finding that making a link between other materials and the experience of working with these using a specific technique helps with things.

Some thoughts and ideas

I am continuing with some of smaller works, some outdoor experiments (weather permitting, rained off today) and applying some techniques to cardboard.

Feels like I have fingers in lots of pies which is good but keeps me distracted from completing things. Having given myself such an open brief I maybe need to hone in on certain areas rather than trying to maintain every possible angle? The difficulty with this is that I don’t feel I know enough about anything to start making those kinds of decisions. Playing about seems more appropriate when I seem so easily distracted.

Research is also hard, just in the sense that I feel it hasn’t got started even though it has, there is such a lot to think about, views to consider and traditions, what exactly am I researching? I guess research never becomes more than snippets of information when writing in this way because there isn’t enough room to write at great length. Also I wonder whether anyone reads this? And sometimes even if I want anyone to?