2012 | Sean Edward

coming up in Decemeber…

Compound Gallery in Portland, Oregon has invited me to join their “End of the World” group show this coming December. Despite the rather sombre title, and the end possibly coming mid-December this year (according to Mayan prophets), the show promises a dash of tongue in cheek know-what-I-mean say no more, so I’m looking forward to playing around with the idea of the end of the world minus floods, locusts and the second coming of AKB48.

new work in progress…

New work! Half way through a short series of watercolour and pencil pieces right now. So far, I’ve scanned and uploaded 3 of a series of 10. More to come in the near future – so check back soon.

summer heat…

It’s been scorching hot in Niigata the last few weeks and near impossible to do anything in the studio. There are a few new things floating about though- small size drawings on some really nice arches watercolour paper I picked up last week. You can check them out on my flickr

A fresh start…

If you have popped into the site over the last few days, you may have noticed it’s been down. Well, it’s back up and it’s had an overhaul with the help of Shaking Paper. Same art work and news will be at your finger tips, plus browsing from smaller devices (ie. phones and tablet devices) has been added to the mix for your convenience. Furthermore, anyone interested in joining up for a newsletter can enter their email up there on the right hand side and I will deliver to your metaphorical door. If you have any comments or questions, drop me an email via the contact page.

Look forward to hearing from you, and thanks for all the the support.
Cheers, Sean.

Back to work…

After a few weeks of R&R in Tasmania and Melbourne, I’m feeling refreshed and already into my next major piece. Here’s progress so far. Another 110 x 79 cm monster, but so far so good. You can get a sneak peak into how gridding up the paper helps keep everything nice and straight. It’s the technical side of the work, but I’ve had a lot of questions about how I keep the perspective consistent, and it’s developed into a kind of routine now. Check back soon for more updates.

After a few weeks of R&R in Tasmania and Melbourne, I’m feeling refreshed and already into my next major piece. Here’s progress so far. Another 110 x 79 cm monster, but so far so good. You can get a sneak peak into how gridding up the paper helps keep everything nice and straight. It’s the technical or craft side of the work, but I’ve had a lot of questions about how I keep the perspective consistent, and it’s developed into a kind of routine now. Check back soon for more updates.

On the way home…

Right now I’m sitting at the station waiting for my train to embark on the first leg of my 32 hour trip home. The familiar sound of electronic chimes and p.a. announcements. The long haul. In 32 hours I’ll be back in Tasmania. In 33 hours I’ll probably be very much asleep, and for the next week or so I hope to be doing just that and little else. So posts and artwork will be light, but I’m looking forward to getting back to work with some new inspiration and a bit more energy. In the meantime the 2012 gallery had been updated with some of the pieces I’ve done recently. See everyone in 2 weeks!

details…

I got the scanned data back from the print shop today and they did a fantastic job capturing all the fine details. The image was enormous, so my trusty old computer choked on it for a while, but I’ve managed to sample a few details for closer inspection. Technical issues aside, the piece is done, and over the last few months I’ve learned a great deal about drawing craft, the limits of my technique and also had (a lot of) time to consider why I’m doing such labour intensive work. Hope you enjoy.

done…

Untitled / Choreography
pencil on paper
110cm x 75cm

detail

It’s finished! This is the biggest piece I’ve drawn up until this point and probably the most dizzying in terms of detail – if I counted how many buildings and structures and objects that made up the figures it would be close to a thousand at least. It’s literally been sucking my life away for about 3 months, but after 2 weeks of late nights I think it’s more or less done.

In the coming weeks I’ll be heading back to Australia to negotiate some framing and display options with a gallery hopefully. It would much better to see it in person. So I’ll update when I know.

Makoto Aida, a Japanese conceptual artist I like said of one of his enormous, white canvas pieces “It’s just like watering a desert” as he built up mountains of businessmen, office telephones and computers to create giant mountains of ash. He’s still working on that one I think. I’m taking a break.

mini series…

In prep for the large work I just completed, I made 3 miniature versions on wood backed paper. Here is the series – each a slightly different size (around 20cm x 20cm), but they line up like this for presentation. I was inspired by those decorative screen doors that separate rooms; traditionally adorned with scenes of nature and such. They are often used in contemporary Japanese art too, so I made my own portable, miniature version to cordon off parts of my desk. They haven’t got titles, but they all have some absurdity about them – like choreographed back dancing on the TV. All silly gesturing and posing. That’s too long for a title, but that was part of the idea.