The National College
Mark Beatty
The focus of my work is on pen and paper. Through a timely linear process I hope to transcend these 'everyday' materials beyond there original existence. The work grows slowly, each line only being of minute vantage. It is alive whilst it is being processed and a relic when it is completed. Each of the lines can be read as if to be the rings on a cut section of a tree. They show its life span.
Lots of small happenings in the creation of these lines have an effect on the overall image. They contribute to its character. Each line is an individual. It is unlikely to be repeated identically even though the process remains the same. Whether a line has fallen short, run off the edge of the ruler or just runs out of ink, they are all relevant. They are not mistakes but consequences of the process. These consequences are often quite subtle. They are on their own quite insignificant but built up over time they become part of a whole, like the cells that make up an organ.
