My curiosity in transparency—not the political kind, but in drawing—led me to animation and out again, as it was too labour-intensive. You could say it became monotonous: the repetition required to feel the final thrill of seeing the inanimate come to life defeated me. Not a process for the impatient me.
Yet my interest in translucency has persisted: from overlaying acetate cells and layering coloured cellophane to build images of joy, to oil-saturated sheets where the lines drawn behind dance with what’s seen on the face of the sheet (things I see, though perhaps others don’t). In the digital age came “smashes” or “mashes”, where images collide and combine in the spirit of mindful serendipity; or straight collage, where images are combined and smoothed, all in layers; or works where images are hidden within a frontline picture that can be peeled back to expose its making.
And of course, chine collé.
Fish in a box. Layered drawing printed on acetate film held in box.
Drowning. The Hilton, Darwin underwater. Digital smash.