Images of Margate people dressed-up in tasteless costumes at parties or at carnivals is nothing new. This is a drawing based on a postcard image from 1930s’ Margate. It’s part of an ongoing series of drawings of people dressed in fancy dress or in uniforms with a connection to Margate. The idea is to produce a series of drawings which bring to mind thoughts about culture, time and place through presenting drawings of people (the details of their clothing and so forth can imply a bigger, social and cultural, picture).
This is a small drawing of about 14.5cm x 21cm in size which is based on the image on a postcard from Margate found in an antique fair near Nottingham. I’ve been making work about this picture, off and on, for a few years. I’ll write about it once I’ve made a proper work of art but for now here are some images.
It’s drawn in metalpoint (silver wire on gesso). The physical characteristics of this medium emphasise the physical qualities of presence and trace and this fits well with my continued artistic preoccupation with human presence and the passing of time. I also find the medium very beautiful.
I can never afford to make the work I’d like to make (the framing alone would be way beyond my means!) and so I don’t know how this work will develop. For example, I’d like to make a separate drawing of each of the people in this picture but I guess this will never happen. Nevertheless, I’m sure there will be other ways to make the art I want to make.
I think of Drawing as a way of thinking: we make sense of what we see when we draw it. I can imagine a version of this work shown with other drawings to invite the viewer to make connections and question what is presented to them i the artwork. We’ll see if this happens. For the time being this drawing is a drawing that is on the way towards other drawings. I doubt if this one is going any further than facebook at the moment.
