Derek M Dick United Kingdom
I have worked in an arts, culture and education environment since graduating with a BA (Hons) Fine Art in 1986, followed by an MA in 1999. As a practicing artist I have had studios across the North of England, exhibited at a number of galleries and have my work in various private collections.
My current artwork, taken from my street photography, are photorealistic portraits drawn on to archival tissue paper using either a 0.5 or a 0.2 mechanical pencil; a process that is very much like drawing with a needle. Rips and tears in the paper are inevitable as well as unpredictable. These drawings are then pasted on to boards including distressed plywood and old backboards creating an additional risk of further damage or even total loss of the work.
This approach to my artwork came from the anxiety of producing new work and ‘getting it right’. I wanted to remove this sense of preciousness from this work and develop a process that added an element of chance, where both the material and the process have an input in to the final outcome of the drawing creating an uneasy balance between order and chaos.
This is also the same as the preciousness that tells you that you have to conform to set standards in order to belong to your chosen social standing, tribe/gang or community, and this positioning is purely governed by your ability to get it right. Removing this preciousness and need to be faultless and flawless also removes the fear that our mistakes will ruin us.
