(al)lies;

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The Verb Drawing with its implicit action and current tense, offer space for ongoing review and critique. Drawings under this definition are not finished, they are not artefacts finished and ready for storage, but instead are live, processing, articulating, thoughts intuitions and denoting the process turning tacit knowledge into codes and ciphers. They can be added to, re-worked, amended, reconfigured and deconstructed, fragments can be appropriated, re-appropriated and discarded the list goes on.

Most interestingly this has direct parallels with two significant historical practices in in the arts. The First is born out of necessity; the palimpsest, the traces of marks of prior use after velum is scraped clean for re-use. The second is the pentimento. Translating directly as "Repentance", this term describes the practice of altering the composition of a painting after painting has started. This association with repentance offers a strong reminder of the power of ongoing reflection during the creative process.

This opens us to the idea of criticality occurring during the process through which we can correct, or respond to developing observations and intentions. Drawings are not slavish, predetermined structures, but instead evolve, develop and change during the creative act.

In a time in which society is becoming increasingly averse to risk and failure any model which establishes a pathway to redemption is to be celebrated, as is anything that reminds us that drawing is an active process is to be celebrated.

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