Recently I have returned to an earlier body of work, the Blind Spot series, taking on the ambition of the mark making but now allowing a more fluid dialogue to emerge. Moving away from simply the mesmeric sounds of the mark on paper I now actively encourage seemingly random thoughts to stray into the process, the resulting drawings clearly stimulated by the sounds being made on paper. For the group exhibition BOOK, 2006, I "drew", whilst blindfold, throughout a small A5 sketchbook, imagining an unfolding drama of conversations, pauses, silences and events ( for some reason Pride and Prejudice kept surfacing as a theme....). The sound of the drawing unfolding was recorded through a microphone taped to my hand. The final work was realized as the sketch book (a “drawn” object), it's associated sound and the maker’s tools (minidisk, pencil case, pencils, eraser, sharpener).
The Blind Spot series that emerged in 2000, signified a visual transition from object-based works to a methodology based in sound, mark making and performance. If such a definition is important I would still consider my practice to be that of a sculptor as I certainly actively engage traditional sculptural techniques: I inhabit environments, both physically and mentally. I cut, I paste, I mould, I edit. These processes are an important factor in the making of each piece - the use of any media has its own resonance and I am fully aware (and utilise) the existing reference points.
Although manifested through a variety of different media my practice has always been that of an observer, a voyeur at times. Earlier text works (Shopping 2000) can be read as observations on the nature of shopping and the thoughts that the action evoked. The Blind Spot drawings followed this path by examining the nature of mark-making. How often do we listen to the sound of pen on paper? How are we affected by the sound, or the mark that is made? With this series, by blindfolding myself and concentrating entirely on the sound I reduced the construction of each work to its barest and basic components.
Throughout my practice I have worked in a range of different media, continually investigating the different and combined natures of sound, video, sculpture and drawing as a framework within which to analyse and reconstruct the nature of observation and perception.
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