Lucy Skaer: large drawings

Skaer's drawings utilise found imagery sourced from photojournalistic reportage. Working on paper - large stretches that in scale resemble unfurled banners, flags or giant scrolls, typically, the main substance of her drawings is graphite to which she adds enamel paint, ink and gold leaf. By merging photo-orientated images with different forms of patterning, Skaer creates shifting collages that, once distanced from their original source, become open to alternative interpretations. (source here) showing work at Laing Art Gallery, to 12 Sep ..... Lucy Skaer, Newcastle upon Tyne This is a small but enchanting installation showing Lucy Skaer's command of poetic ambiguities. The Great Wave (Expanded), based on 19th-century Japanese printmaker Hokusai's Under The Wave, is a massive paper triptych of graphite and ink markings that coalesce into a semi-abstract nocturne. This shift from representational pictures to evocative abstractions is typical of Skaer's fascination with what she calls "states of betweenness". Leonora (The Tyrant), an old table with an image of outstretched hands, and short film Leonora (The Joker) commemorate a meeting between Skaer and radical artist Leonora Carrington, a perfect subject for Skaer's art of wayward intrigue. The Guardian Guide 21-27 Aug 2010 Artist represented by doggerfisher Lucy Skaer's biography