The Island
View catalogueThese simple pieces are the result of Harry’s fascination with an island where he lives in Norfolk. Working with the simplest technique of ink on paper he explores themes of place, time, distance and space looking at the three elements here of sky above, horizon and creek below.
How much of a sense of place you can infer... from very little?
Almost, the less you show, the more there is to see. Of course, as a viewer you need to embrace and believe the lines... see the island, take a punt on what I am doing.
But if that happens, I find that the visual rewards are right there.
Most of the drawings are simply sky, horizon and creek but recently I have been drawing the more complicated creeks beside the fishermans’ sheds in the harbour where lines are sharper. They criss cross a bit and imply a more complicated relationship between the natural landscape and human activity.
The island is very real and vibrant, full of multiple dynamics that make it an extraordinary place to visit. But in the end it is its fragility that makes it so appealing. It is made up of very little; just sand, air and water, stirred up by the simple but thrilling combination of weather, season, time and tide. The drawings explore this simplicity.
