There's been progress on the latest major work, a freeform abstraction that's something of a revelation in the nature of secrets; we have fewer secrets on the inside than we do outside of ourselves, complicated by memory and dream - and are we really all that secretive in our heavily detailed existences, or are we truly hiding more when we embrace the simplistic, the reduced and the minimal?
The secrets of the self are like that of an ancient empire - hidden and full of mystery until understood; and then they represent moments of the past, quietly situated somewhere on a shelf, documented and catalogued, just another photo album from a journey already done. We surround ourselves with our stories, replicated by naïveté, darkened by age, or forgotten in disinterest - yet they are the organic puzzles of ourselves that are less a reflection of who we are, than a collection of who we can be.
The work is in graphite and ink - I've applied the ink layer as I go along on this one, working the layers as a whole. For a work this size, it is cleaner and simpler to finish a section wholly before moving on. I'm enjoying the size and space I'm working with - while I normally work on paper half the size, there's a freedom allowing for greater detail and play in a larger area.
That's not really a secret to me; but it could be for someone else...