Trees in Water




The inception of this work was of a  graphite pencil drawing on paper “montage” depiction and developed over 30 hours of work. The work was later executed on to a five feet canvas.

​The image from which the drawing was captured is the surface of a local pond in Wandsworth taken via digital camera. The drawing speaks of the lived experience of dyslexia such as “visual stress” when words are perceived to move (or ‘morph’) about on the page, or when experiencing reversals of letters and numbers, in the same way that the branches of the trees morph on the movement in the water.  
 
The work attempts to communicate the phenomenon of daydreaming or “mind wandering” that dyslexics have a propensity to experience when overwhelmed with information; a holistic ability of gathering thought, looking outwards at trees through a window (for example) taking a break to put things into perspective. The metaphor of trees morphing on water conveys how myself as a dyslexic artist sees the world from my subjective experience.
 
The work is a doubling reflecting trees above and below water, conveying the principle of symmetrical perception and chiaroscuro, light and dark. By using the montage to depict the image, the artist engaged in the process of deconstruction—or the breaking down and taking apart of the image—and then putting together to create the holistic perception of the morphing trees on water. Consistent with the idea of the vantage point, the image must be viewed from a certain distance to be apprehended and appreciated.
 
The work represents transcendence from the traumatic experience of discrimination and stigmatisation common amongst dyslexic artists as we navigate the world, thus liberating ourselves from the constraints of our marginalised existence.
 

 Trees in Water (montage). Graphite pencil on paper. In situ at St Botolphs Without Aldgate Church, City of London. Part of Aldgate in Winter 2021    exhibition: ​       

                        Trees in Water (macro). Oil on 150cm square canvas. 2023. 

                     Tree in Ripples in Water. A single tree reflected and morphing in turbulence on waters surface. 50x50cm. Graphite on paper. 2024.