Curator Statement

This was in fact a very small drawing. I did it before the first exhibition; it was a tiny shell. I used to keep it in a drawer in my desk when I was still doing some freelance work for a couple of advertising agencies and I would get it out occasionally and try and draw it in a very meticulous way. I hope what it shows, that in the end, if a painter makes a mark that symbolises something, in this case a shell, you may as well or you should know how to draw the thing before you make the mark. It’s a piece of close observation. I don’t often draw this way anymore but every now and then it’s like a piece of homework. I think it’s important that you go back to it. So, Helmet shell, 1979.