Exploring Structures 2016

This work began as a series of spontaneous drawings exploring various ways to create expressive marks and loosen up. Soon the imagery brought to mind the characteristics of dying trees I recently encountered on a trip to Alert Bay. Remnants of a decaying forest, these blackened forms were stunted and gnarly. The tree boughs were dry, brittle and broken; their limbs spiralling inward. The atmosphere was one of loss and struggle for survival.

The dark, contrasting shapes and frenzied lines in my drawings had a similar feel. Even the materials I was using - mostly charcoal, black ink and white paint - suggested starkness and seem to express an agitated state of mind. This intrigue has pushed me to look more closely at trees - branch structures in particular - and their stages of development and decline.