For the whole of December, the sky in Sydney was incredibly smoky and filled with ash. I tried to make drawings that reflected this eery atmosphere.
Mixed media on paper, each 15 cm x 12cm
Sometimes drawings just need to be pulped. In September I worked on paper I had re-made from old drawings and watercolours.
Mixed media on handmade paper, each 29 cm x 21 cm
I embroidered my pilgrimage as I walked around the Japanese island of Shikoku, visiting Kukai’s 88 temples .
Mixed media in timber frames, each 8 cm x 14 cm
Digital textile print, 100 cm x 100 cm
Working with transparent layers of oil paint, I started each day with a black and white drawing and glazed each painting every subsequent day for the month. That means that the first has 30 layers and the 30th has only one
Oil on board, each 8 cm x 14 cm.
In May I painted tiny figures with my costumes and wove them into a necklace-like circle that is encrusted with an array of beads and trinkets.
Beads, wire, plastic figurines, oil and watercolour, size variable.
Mixed media on sandpaper, each 14 cm x 14 cm.
In March I framed the drawings in some of my collection of frames, with each frame reflecting what I wore just as much as the drawing.
‘Mixed media in found frames, each 16 x 13 cm
In December and January I drew in a book about the history of lacemaking in Hungary. I like to draw in books about textiles.
Collage, ink and spray paint on found book, 19 cm x 16 cm
I drew my face on tracing paper each day.
Pen on tracing paper, 23 cm x 18 cm
In October I made my drawings on things I found in the street each day, In April 2018 my drawings were white gouache and ink on black paper.modifying them with colours, patterns and moods from my outfits.
Bi-fold book, 18 cm x 9 cm
On each day of June 2018 I made these daily images with a Polaroid camera.
In June I wanted to use photography. I chose to use polaroids because, as they have no negatives or files they have a unique connection to the moment they are taking, like drawings. But, I needed to have another person to press the button. As a way of honouring these helpers and also because I want to bring the focus back to my subjective, rather than objective identity / costume / experience, I decided to include an image of each photographer; a different person every day. The work then retained its quality of subjective self-portaiture, recording as it does, the places I went and the people I was with as key elements of my experience.
Mixed media on exhibition invitations, each 17 cm x 12 cm
In May, 2018 I made small square drawings based on the palette of what I was wearing.
Watercolour on paper, 10 cm x 10 cm
White gouache and ink on black paper, 15 cm x 12 cm
Maryanne Coutts 