Untitled 1
2011
Hair, Oil Pastel and Etching on Archival Paper

‘Untitled 1: Drawing’ was developed during my MA at Nottingham Trent University in 2011, emerging from an early enquiry into the line through the act of mark making on paper.

The work followed ‘Hairfall’, a video work that documented the incidental marks produced by the falling hair as naturally occurring scribbles delineating atop the surface of paper. The uncontrolled, organic form of mark making became an important starting point for considering and examining what constitutes a line.

Here, the work continued and explored further this idea of linear intervention and material character of the mark. Hair, oil pastel, and pen were brought together as distinct drawing materials, allowing an examination of line in terms of thickness of pigment, visual appearance, texture, tactility and other differences. Despite their contrasting physical properties and modes of application, each material ultimately produces what can be universally recognised as a line. The work therefore considers the line not as a static graphic element, but as a dynamic form that can continually shift in context with material and mode of application.