The Lines of Descent exhibition started today at Hamilton House.
The title of the exhibition refers to the method of drawing I have used for the artwork on display. It is an organic process, like doodling. Each line suggests the next. Each line is influenced by that first line. A line of descent exists between the first line and the last line drawn. It is a journey. With some of the artwork the general composition was planned out in advance through sketches, with other artwork the process and composition were entirely organic.
I am interested in exploring the boundaries between beauty and ugliness. When does beauty tip over into ugliness? I use methods that are traditionally synonymous with beauty in art; pattern and symmetry, and then push them through iteration and distortion. I have also made occasional use of compositions from classical art.
Many of the pieces explore machine forms. I am intrigued by the ambiguity of technology as our saviour and our destruction. The technological form has been the poster child for progress since at least the beginning of the 20th century. It also has a rich tradition within the dystopian future visions of science fiction. Technology is so absolutely human but often disowned as inhuman. It forms are only limited by our imaginations but like a mirror it shows us what is within our imaginations. The beautiful and the ugly. E = mc2 becomes the atom bomb.
The exhibition runs from 15th – 26th October.
The private viewing is on Thursday 18th October from 6pm to 8:30pm.
