I have a process-based practice of asemic calligraphy, abstract painting, and mark making. My approach is socially engaged within spiritual communities such as the Quakers, and philosophically grounded in a sense of “mystery” and space for the unknown.
Shortly after my stroke, when receiving speech therapy to treat my aphasia, I was asked if I could draw a dog. In that moment I realised that not only could I not draw a dog, but I did not even know what a “dog” is. This drawing was the result of my attempt to locate a meaning attached to the word “dog”. This story, and my journey of recovery from aphasia and drug abuse is documented in the short film below by Ian Nesbitt.
I have been collaborating with Zen calligrapher Alison Churchill, linguist and writer Rafael Cruz, and social artist and researcher Yuen Fong Ling, exploring the language-like utterances that have flowed from me since my stroke. The video below represents an excerpt of a recorded conversation between the four of us conducted last year.
https://share.descript.com/embed/2nLOjU77jM3
The video below demonstrates the shared practice of asemic calligraphy that I practice regularly as a ritualistic part of my art practice. This is the kind of work we would demonstrate as a live performance.
Having engaged in this shared ritual practice for many months, I have acculumated a very large body of asemic calligraphic work. This huge volume of work represents an ongoing process of recovery from stroke and addiction, which takes daily work to reengage with mark making and semantic meaning.
A collection of my works, including abstract paintings, were displayed at Fronteer Gallery last year, in an exhibition entitled ‘Subconscious Awake’. The short video below demonstrates that exhibition. These seemingly simple compositions are themselves part of a relearning process closely connected to my recovery from stroke - their abstract nature is a natural result of the ongoing process of reengaging with semantic meaning and exploring what is present in consciousness in the absence of discursive reasoning.
Tour of recent exhibition at Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield
Tour of recent exhibition at Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield
