Tabula Rasa

Each year BA and MA students at Winchester School of Art are given the opportunity to exhibit at the Bargehouse which is a fantastic and unusual exhibition space on London's Southbank.

One of my highlights of 2014 was exhibiting my work at the space alongside fellow students in July. It was the first time I've exhibited in London and the first time in such an unusual space. 

Bargehouse 

I decided to take four drawings of the Forest of Dean to exhibit, I'd been working on them for a couple of months prior to the exhibition and they'd not been exhibited before. 

The woodland drawings were made in response to themes of childhood memory and my connection to the Forest of Dean. 

Installation view 

I visited the Forest of Dean to take more photographs. I took the photographs from an alternative perspective, getting low to the ground and looking up. The trees loomed overhead and made me feel small, like a child lost. 

I drew from the photographs utilising the technique of small circles and shapes to build an image. The slow and controlled method of drawing is a meditative process for me, allowing me time to reflect. 

Woodland I and II

The detailed drawings displayed in frames contrasted with the exhibition space. The walls were full of character, peeling plaster, scratches and holes. They reminded me of a Cy Twombly painting. 

People and the drawings

​The experience of travelling to London over a week to set up, invigilate and take down the exhibition was a rewarding one. The exhibition as a whole was very strong and allowed me to meet great artists from the BA and forge stronger bonds with my MA friends who participated. 

​The drawings can be found on the 'woodland' section on the drawings tab.