Conor Wickham | The Hands Want to See, The Eyes Want to Caress
Monday 17th August – Sunday 30th August
The Hands Want to See, The Eyes Want to Caress
‘The hands want to see; the eyes want to caress’
This exhibition consists of drawings created over the last two years. The drawings aim to explore how we interpret and reflect upon experience, both first and secondary experiences. Therefore, the exhibition is an exercise in Reflective Drawing. The term ‘reflective drawing’ refers to the use of drawing as a means of expression during the reflection process.
Each piece has begun life with no preconception of what the finished image will be or what processes/images or designs will be explored throughout the creation. They are reflective pieces with no linear narrative. These drawn reflections do not have a predetermined structure like a written diary, but they span many states of mind over a two-year period. They cannot be read as a narrative but must be interpreted by the viewer, where they are required to give their own meaning to the images or symbols within each composition.
Everything I have experienced, both real and through secondary sources, I have taken as my own. All memories/imaginations are constructs. We can change them, make them more interesting, make ourselves more interesting. Does it matter, if you imagine something, isn’t it the same as having lived it. Through my constructed memories and imaginations, I have lived infinite lives, in different times and places. The drawings are my way of interpreting what I have experienced, both directly and indirectly. There are elements of both rational analysis and subconscious drivel within the work. There’s nothing fixed, the pieces are constantly changing, only coming to an end when there is no more space left to explore.
It is an aim to overwhelm the viewer with content, to make them feel lost, uncomfortable, confused as well as excited and positively stimulated. There is no fixed meaning within any piece, that’s constantly changing and open to continuous reinterpretation.