This visual narrative evokes the imaginary world of children. A place where children go during play, where actions are exaggerated and minds are overwhelmed with ideas and dreams of other worlds. 

My starting point involved taking digital photographs of a typical day of play at home on the weekend. Then, photographing imagery from my son’s books of pirates I combined and manipulated imagery using Adobe Photoshop. 

The narrative begins in the real space of the playroom and gradually enters the abstract realm of imagination. The pirate ship arrives, defeated by children privateers, treasure retrieved and ship overtaken. Finishing with the victorious moment and a return to reality – the backyard. 

Similar to William Kentridge's sketchy style, where the artist’s “hand” and emotional tension are evident, my works display visual expression on an emotional and intuitive level. Due to the ”cold” planning processes involved in the production of this narrative, I often felt challenged to liberate myself from ‘the plan’ and simply enjoy ‘the mark making’. 

Jim Dine’s drawings, which rely heavily on line and materials such as pencil, chalk, ink, white charcoal and charcoal, have informed my own art making. His diverse range of drawing materials and his use of varied and direct marks in a bold and expressive way have visually informed my own processes. I was continuously challenged to take ownership of my quick and direct style of mark making (and to move beyond the plan) so that I could develop a visual authority in my drawing. 

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As Dine quoted in 2003:

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“Drawing is being on a bicycle and taking a journey. 
…to succeed in drawing, I must go fast and arrive somewhere. 
The quest is to keep the thing alive…” 

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