I thought I would share two of my current, major inspirations to help viewers better understand the ideas behind my work. Particularly this body of work. You may notice a particular shape, or the idea of a loop, cropping up often.
I’ve realised that a lot of the work I’ve made is in response to my identity, almost as though I’m trying to understand myself and the world around me better, and the contexts that I exist within. I think all artists do this to an extent.
Möbius
A möbius strip is a three-dimensional shape that has only one side. If you were to place your finger on one of its sides and trace it along you could do so for an eternity. Discovered by two German Mathematicians 1858, the non-orientable continuum has recently been a fascination of mine. I’ve always been drawn to the grey areas throughout art, the space between two-dimensional and three-dimensional, between a painting and a drawing, and so on.
The myth of Sisyphus and Sisyphean labour
In short, the Greek myth of Sisyphus tells us of a man that was sentenced to pushing a boulder up a mountain after cheating death three times. It is an impossible task, Sisyphus would push the rock up the mountain, just for it to roll back down to the bottom for him to begin again. Over and over again. Forever. A horrendous punishment, right? But many philosophers have likened the story to the human condition. Going to work, day after day, the never ending grind. Sounds awfully depressing doesn’t it? But I believe there is joy in the day-to-day repetitions of life.
I think that through making this work I’m trying to bring into focus the joy that can be found through hard work and seemingly mundane tasks. I have been exploring these thoughts and feelings through the use of laborious and repetitive drawing techniques.