Dante Duell
Trinity Catholic College Lismore
MINDFOG
Drawing
Pencil and watercolour on cartridge paper
Our consciousness is affected by the paradox that it can be both aware of self and dislocated from it when faced with the seemingly familiar. The intent in my body of work is to explore this paradox, inviting intimacy as the viewer follows the unsettling trajectory of an inner conflict. In representing consciousness (and lack thereof) as a fog - a 'plaguing' force - I intensify its ephemeral yet potent nature; it intrudes and can either prove to be a beauty or a hindrance, much like the essence of human thought.
My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the following artists: Shirley Hughes, Holly Warburton, Frank Miller.
Marker's Commentary
Mind Fog employs a book and film format to communicate an experience set loosely in a narrative structure. A series of gestural drawings in the illustrative convention and the format of story books communicate the struggles of the subject as they move between the normality of the everyday and the inner trials hidden from the observer. The series conceptually examines how the process of drawing can communicate psychological and emotional states though the subtle manipulation of composition, line and cropping. Each page represents a unique figurative investigation while also building a non-linear narrative. The title gives the viewer a helping hand into the work from a conceptual standpoint and ideas are reiterated with the video component of the work. The use of line sparingly is highly skilled and sensitively manipulated to create convincing scenes and facial expressions which draw us into the internal life of the subject. Mindfog is informed by careful observation and a deep knowledge of anatomical structures and facial expressions. This body of work conceptually and materially integrates and investigates the inner thoughts of the individual and the power this has to shape our experiences and actions.