Elephant Boy

I love the way our minds works – how we can’t help but see human or animal figures in random patterns or in vegetable or mineral structures. Some people love staring at clouds (oh yeah, I can see a giant poodle in high heals) but I’m always fascinated by the weird things that can be made out in some types of bathroom tiles. I could stare at them for hours. At least that’s the story that I’m sticking to as to why I spend so long in the bathroom.
And why am I waffling on about such nonsense? Well, I was looking through some of my old sketchbooks the other night and I came across a couple of thumbnail sketches of a bit of twig (top image) that I’d picked up somewhere. Looking at the drawings again they reminded me of some sort of John Merrick type creature so I did a quick cartoon sketch and here’s the result.

Vamalgam 4

Untitled Component Drawing, originally uploaded by Wayne Chisnall.

Because a lot of my sculptural work comes under the umbrella of assemblage I tend to collect large quantities of found objects and materials - always being drawn the things and forms that have a certain resonance, but not always knowing what I will eventually do with them.
In this drawing I have taken a few of these items and, without trying to concern myself too much over matters of how the individual forms relate to each other, I've attempted to morph them all together. This proved to be more easily said than done, as a life time of drawing, awareness of perspective and of trying to accurately create the illusion of 3D forms in a 2D plain can hard wire the brain to following certain rules. None the less I'm quite happy with how it turned out - there are some interesting connections going on. A friend recently said that there was a lot of sexual imagery in the piece. I'm not sure if that says something about him or me.
Anyway - this work has just gone on display in Vamalgam 4, the Victoria and Albert Museum's new staff show. This year's exhibition is the biggest of the four shows, with some of the best work yet. The work ranges from painting, to photography, to drawing, to mixed media and showcases the diverse creative abilities of the people who make up the V and A Museum.