Locus of Points
Intermedia Gallery
CCA Glasgow
28 March - 11 April 2015
Locus of Points is a solo presentation of new drawings, compositions and prints by Uist and Glasgow based artist Ross Hamilton Frew. The presented works accumulate twelve months of research with Paper Studio Northumbria, at Northumbria University, Newcastle. During this period, Frew investigated various paper production methods to create a paper-stock made entirely from pulped books. This paper stock alongside various examples of found and made paper make up the exhibition.
By stripping books, a process popular in 20th Century publishing where unsold books were stripped of their cover to be pulped and recycled, Frew plays on the symbolic imagery of destroying books to create new content. This action suggests the artist is interested in how we value knowledge within contemporary society and what role destruction can play in creativity. We could view the act of pulping literature negatively. Yet, within the industry, it has the long term effect of diminishing the number of copies of a given publication and making the surviving documents more valuable in the book collecting market. These literary sacrifices may go relatively unnoticed within this market, but the symbolism holds. Frew shows his gratitude for this material and pays homage to the lost texts by collecting five and seven-syllable sentences from these books to build haiku, repurposing the content to create new meaning. These haiku are turned into wall drawings and sit comfortably alongside the resulting paper works. The simple Japanese poem structure reflects the simple form of the work and vice versa. The pieces are not titled; instead grouped in proximity to the haiku. This decision emphasises the work as a body rather than a series of individual drawings.
The involvement of the hand in the papermaking process introduces an artisanal element to Frew’s practice. However, this element is in contrast with his drawing method. Previously Frew used a series of frameworks to produce his work but has in this instance opted to allow the surface he draws upon to dictate the outcome. The drawing surface contains the text’s speckled remains that gave way for its production, and these markings provide the starting point for all the exhibited works. Frew’s straight drawn lines connect the dots and allow him to build his images. This process of marking, erasing, and shifting is mechanical. Introducing a photocopier Frew builds on the speckled line’s texture, balancing the praxis between the handmade and the machine, the artisanal and the mass-produced.
Frew further emphasised the point with the title of the show ‘Locus of Points’ which references geometry. A locus is a set of points whose location satisfies or is determined by one or more specified conditions. Here Frew alludes to an obsession with systems and structures within his practice and allows that system to dictate how he produces his work. However, the inevitability of human error and the unpredictability of a hand made process give the drawing no other option than to forgo any ideas of perfection. With this removed, the emphasis aimed soley towards creating new experimentation in contemporary drawing.
This exhibition was made possible through the Creative Scotland Artist Bursary scheme, Paper Studio Northumbria, Northumbria University, CCA, Glasgow Life, Kelvin Framers and Saramago Cafe Bar.
Intermedia Gallery
CCA Glasgow
28 March - 11 April 2015
Locus of Points is a solo presentation of new drawings, compositions and prints by Uist and Glasgow based artist Ross Hamilton Frew. The presented works accumulate twelve months of research with Paper Studio Northumbria, at Northumbria University, Newcastle. During this period, Frew investigated various paper production methods to create a paper-stock made entirely from pulped books. This paper stock alongside various examples of found and made paper make up the exhibition.
By stripping books, a process popular in 20th Century publishing where unsold books were stripped of their cover to be pulped and recycled, Frew plays on the symbolic imagery of destroying books to create new content. This action suggests the artist is interested in how we value knowledge within contemporary society and what role destruction can play in creativity. We could view the act of pulping literature negatively. Yet, within the industry, it has the long term effect of diminishing the number of copies of a given publication and making the surviving documents more valuable in the book collecting market. These literary sacrifices may go relatively unnoticed within this market, but the symbolism holds. Frew shows his gratitude for this material and pays homage to the lost texts by collecting five and seven-syllable sentences from these books to build haiku, repurposing the content to create new meaning. These haiku are turned into wall drawings and sit comfortably alongside the resulting paper works. The simple Japanese poem structure reflects the simple form of the work and vice versa. The pieces are not titled; instead grouped in proximity to the haiku. This decision emphasises the work as a body rather than a series of individual drawings.
The involvement of the hand in the papermaking process introduces an artisanal element to Frew’s practice. However, this element is in contrast with his drawing method. Previously Frew used a series of frameworks to produce his work but has in this instance opted to allow the surface he draws upon to dictate the outcome. The drawing surface contains the text’s speckled remains that gave way for its production, and these markings provide the starting point for all the exhibited works. Frew’s straight drawn lines connect the dots and allow him to build his images. This process of marking, erasing, and shifting is mechanical. Introducing a photocopier Frew builds on the speckled line’s texture, balancing the praxis between the handmade and the machine, the artisanal and the mass-produced.
Frew further emphasised the point with the title of the show ‘Locus of Points’ which references geometry. A locus is a set of points whose location satisfies or is determined by one or more specified conditions. Here Frew alludes to an obsession with systems and structures within his practice and allows that system to dictate how he produces his work. However, the inevitability of human error and the unpredictability of a hand made process give the drawing no other option than to forgo any ideas of perfection. With this removed, the emphasis aimed soley towards creating new experimentation in contemporary drawing.
This exhibition was made possible through the Creative Scotland Artist Bursary scheme, Paper Studio Northumbria, Northumbria University, CCA, Glasgow Life, Kelvin Framers and Saramago Cafe Bar.
