I did this picture a couple of years ago and have just found and recovered it from the bottom of a drawer in my studio. I was a little surprised to find it there because it is part of a series of about 4 or 5 that got sent to either Italy or New York almost as soon as they were finished. I guess it didn’t make the cut, although I’m quite fond of it now.
Memento
First drawing finished in ’09. The wood-paneled background – which is becoming an increasingly common feature in recent drawings, almost a character in its own right – starts to feel like foliage and I like the discombobulating depth of field that it creates. It at once consumes and regurgitates the central figure, kind of like a trombone shot or dolly zoom – pulling focus like the scene with James Stewart in Vertigo where he falls into a metaphorical abyss while standing perfectly still. It is a technique that is always used in the movies to suggest someone falling away from themselves or undergoing some sort of realisation. This time it is intense, cheerful and surreal.