Dark and densely detailed, this artist’s hypnotic renderings of cities and their buildings hover just beyond reality.
You use a very restricted set of materials and techniques, how and why did you arrive at that approach?
I was never really sure what was the best medium for me to work with. I used to work a lot with very tight hand-written type, and I struggled with how to translate that intensity into my drawings. I found that working with Sharpie markers was really interesting: because they bleed I had to force myself to work a little quicker and accept mistakes.
Who inspires you?
Visually, Piranesi and Hugh Ferriss are two major influences. I find a lot of my inspiration can come from writing. I really like authors such as Borges and Calvino, also writings by Lebbeus Woods, Phillip K. Dick, Hugh Ferriss (again). I love knowing the story of a building before I draw it, it fosters more of a connection.
What’s hanging on your walls?
Mould, unfortunately.
Where do you hope to be in a years time?
Working on something interesting. I'm not really sure what yet, but that's kind of exciting.
Why a particular interest in the forms of architecture and the urban environment?
I'm not really sure, it is just an area that has always interested me. I remember going on school art trips to places like the zoo and drawing the buildings rather than the animals, they just excited me more.
Are there cities that you aspire to visit and draw? What are the specific qualities that attract you to them?
I recently won a bursary from the RCA to go and draw Rome, which is really exciting. I plan to visit a series of sites drawn by Giovanni Battista Piranesi for his Vedute, I want to see how they've changed and create my own responses. Recently the buildings I have been drawing have been imaginary and I am looking forward to exploring how that world can merge with specific views of Rome.
How do you mediate between fact and fiction in your work?
I find the interplay between what is real and what is false really interesting. I don't think I look to mediate between the two but instead see them as coexisting. I look to produce a new reality within my drawings, as such both the fact and the fiction presented within them become equally real.
What's your favourite view in London?
From the roof of the One New Change shopping centre looking out over St. Paul's.
What’s the biggest challenge of working in the way that you do?
Time. The way I work is very time-consuming and sometimes that can be a bit challenging, but also rewarding. I tend to work in very long stretches rather than short bursts; for many of my recent drawings I would draw for nine or ten hours straight.
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