Tiny Art in a Venetian Plastic Sphere

Had a week off and back to the studio today. Strangely I worked better this morning; I’m usually at my best after lunch. I’m a bit tired because we spent most of last week travelling, entertaining, running and digging and now it’s catching up with me. I spent my time finishing my entries for the ‘100 artists’ installation at the Venice Arts Biennale Fringe. It’s a chance to get two tiny artworks into vending machines situated in galleries in Venice. The work will be put into little plastic spheres [smaller than 10 centimetres] and collectors will have to take a chance on what they get for their money.

I’ve made two drawing / print constructions based on a traditional children’s game. ‘Pathogen’ is drawn from dangerous bacteria and viruses that attack the human animal. With the population of the planet increasing to huge numbers it becomes more likely that our species will be slaughtered by these or similar pathogens. The central image of a skull is a lino block print developed from original anatomical drawings. Cheerful aren’t I?

‘Petroglyph’ is based on sketchbook drawings I did during a trip to the Karakoram Mountains in Pakistan a couple of years ago. They are ancient rock carvings, picked into roadside boulders by people at least ten thousand years ago and they mostly represent local animals and hunting scenes.

Their existence is now threatened by the proposed development of a hydro-electric dam in the Indus Valley which will drown this extraordinary monument of early human art. The central image is a lino block print developed from a drawing of an ibex petroglyph.