'What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.' Werner Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy 1963
I address the gap between the world and our representations of it, often making use of methods that promise objectivity but ultimately reveal unknowability.
What the world becomes I trace the flights of birds, using the window as vantage point, drawing surface and printing plate. This transparent plane marks the point where the birds' drawings in space become my drawings of space: where the three-dimensional and fleeting becomes the two-dimensional and fixed. This drawing installation records a series of observations made over the course of a day. Bird flight paths were traced from and on 13 different windows for 10 minutes an hour 08.00 to 20.10 on 18 May 2006.I draw them. They draw me. The meeting point of inside and outside, observer and observed - the birds and I draw simultaneously on the window.3 February 2006 10 minutes of observed bird flight, traced directly onto the window.The spaces where things have been A series of monotypes taken from drawings of bird flight made directly on the window's surface.Flights Interrupted Based on an observation of bird flight paths made in March 2006 at a window overlooking the River Exe in Exeter, the painting was completed early in 2008 at a studio in Red Lion Lane, Exeter.Space as defined by two separate systems A long-exposure photograph at dusk was followed by an equivalent amount of time spent drawing bird flights in daylight from the same window, emphasising the particular qualities of photography versus sight and memory.Bound (Gravity Drawing) A series of futile attempts to become airborne. (sample video)Spilt upon the ground Cropping, inverting, distorting - puddles show the world representing itself.The distance travelled by foot, travelled by hand A riverside walk was measured by pedometer and the same distance (6.643km) is now being recreated by drawing a continuous line between two markers 50cm apart. Small wobbles of my hand disturb the precise measure and begin to form ripples that recall the flow of water and the strata of rocks.Divide (The Territorial Imperative) A walk - like a narrative - unfolds through time. Yet its flow may be interrupted: a wall blocks the view, a high fence bars the route...Divide. Divide. Divided. Captured with a low-tech camera during a walk around Exeter Quay and Marsh Barton trading estate, this film reveals the discontinuity of experience within an apparently coherent event. (sample video)Spring Tide Walk 107 strides from low tide to high tide mark. Jacob's Ladder Beach, Sidmouth 13.38 10 April 2009