Simon Hitchen – Trace at Kevis House Gallery

19 MAY – 30 JUNE

10.00am  – 5.00pm

Trace: The track left by a moving pen following a line back to its origin – a minimal mark of something having existed.

Chance and rhythm. Order and chaos

SIMON HITCHENS

Trace – artist statement

As a sculptor, my practice is multi-disciplinary: working through a variety of mediums as well as drawing, painting and film in order to explore and execute my ideas. I work on large-scale public sculpture commissions where the work is concerned with specifics of place whilst retaining the integrity of my own sculptural voice. At the same time, I push ideas within my studio practice through research and investigation where I experiment with materials and concepts: this is the core of my practice, part of which has led to this particular body of drawings – Deconstructing Wholeness.

Drawing often enables me to clarify my concepts before I commit to exploring them further, or sometimes acts as a deciphering tool after I have finished a sculpture. Drawing can also act as a touchstone to the more instinctive side of my practice. It acts as a bridge between my conscious thoughts and my subconscious. I often work in series, searching out abstract feelings akin to navigating through a foggy landscape.

The starting point for the drawings in this exhibition, are the shadows cast from stones local to my studio environment. In these drawings I have set up a system of prescribed rules where my hand becomes an objective tool to create the drawing and I let the system run until it is complete. I am not focused on an end result before I start, instead I relax into the meditative actions needed for the completion of the task. The titles Deconstructing

Wholeness are descriptive of my actions and perceptions of humble stones which most individuals would overlook. My aim is to discover different ways to perceive rock, this most ubiquitous of Earth’s materials.

The natural world is an endless source of inspiration to me, and a direct tool I use to create my work. Rock is the material focus and conceptual back bone to my creative practice. By drawing it, I attempt to deepen my understanding of the interconnectedness between the human and the non-human, as a means of understanding our relationship with impermanence.