“Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak. “ (Berger, Blomberg, Fox, Dibb, & Hollis, R., 1973, p. 4). Our world is surrounded by an array of visual stimuli. Our eyes tend to notice regularity and by that extension “common” things in favor of quick processing and comfort of the known. To truly observe perhaps, is to take notice of the overlooked, the irregular and the obscure. 

In “Noticing”, I focused my attention on irregularities in my environment in order to truly observe every detail in my subjects. By choosing uncommon subjects, it forced me to notice the lines, curves and bends that collectively reveal their realness. 

I was influenced by the work of Michael Landy, especially his “Nourishment” series depicting detailed etchings of weeds including its imperfections (Taylor, 2003). He was passionate about the urban underclass and how they were subject to prolonged neglect and external control, like the spasmodic measures of the control of weeding. His etchings demonstrate a sense of resilience, strength and beauty, and emphasize how the weeds’ intrinsic attributes are often overlooked by the majority. 

I was further influenced by the detailed observations of daily objects and sightings in our environment by Vija Clemin (John Vincler, 2019). Her detailed paintings of the night stars and the ocean, with no reference point, really challenges the viewer to pay attention to the subject and to ponder and reflect on our human consciousness.

John Berger in "his book “Ways of Seeing” mentioned that vision is immediate and continuous, while the words that we use to name what we see can only be conjured up after the fact (Berger et al., 1973). He elaborates on this point further by providing an example from Rene Magritte’s painting “The Key of Dreams”, which depicts four objects labelled as other objects, pointing towards the gap between how we name items and how we understand their meaning. Society often puts “labels”on things in our environment and hence when these subjects are given unconventional names, it gives the viewer a sense of discordance and challenges our preconceived notions. Each sketch in the “Noticing” series allows us to meet the subject with new eyes. It further embodies my own personal observation of the subject in drawing and in words.

Reference:

Berger, J., Blomberg, S., Fox, C., Dibb, M., & Hollis, R. (1973). Ways of seeing. London, ENG: British Broadcasting Corporation: Penguin Books.

Taylor, R. (2003). Creeping Buttercup 2002. Retrieved from: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/landy-creeping-buttercup-p78730

John Vincler. (2019, November 26). On Desolation: Vija Clemin’s Gray [Web blog post]. Retrieved from: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/11/26/on-desolation-vija-celminss-gray/