Fray and Fragment. Solo Exhibition 2011

Artist Statement

Exposed to the elements and human activity, our surroundings bear the marks of decay and use. This physical residue is the starting point for these ongoing series of drawings. My interest in the inevitable process entropy - of things breaking down or wearing out - is the fact that something new has to happen. A change takes place, something is replaced, repaired, or just abandoned, and in that process our attention is drawn to the physical impressions of use that we leave behind. 

Photography, sketching and memory are my ways of gathering information. From these sources I isolate areas of pattern and rhythm and make small drawings, which become the starting point for larger, intensely detailed drawings which are built up with repetitive, rhythmic marks using Indian ink and a fine mapping pen. My drawings are about ideas and possibilities, and with each step the image is transformed, taking on a new existence, a reality  that exists only as an image in itself.

© Betty Gannon