The journey and movement, repetition and time: Drawing within my visual practice

ABSTRACT

Catrin Webster is a painter who, over the past 25 years, has consistently used drawing processes as a fundamental part of her practice. In this article, she describes the significance of drawing within her work and its potential as a means of exploration and experimentation. An investigation of place and movement in or around a landscape is central to Webster's work, where she refers to the research of geographers such as Peter Merriman and anthropologists, especially Marc Augé. This has led to the exploration of movement through the development of drawing practices, which have included the study of television and film, tracking the process of looking, drawing while travelling and the development of the Free Drawing system in reference to Henri Lefebvre. Webster's exploration of space includes notions of time and presence, and considers ideas such as the ‘unquestioned continuities’ explored by Michel Foucault in The Archaeology of Knowledge. For Webster a journey through a particular place, such as a repeated motorcycle circuit, is in itself a form of drawn line.

KEYWORDS:

• drawing
• visual investigation
• environment
• landscape travel