I’m reading ‘In Search of the Essence of Place’ by Petr Kral. The writer’s explorations of rooms in his house as a child lead to the discovery of a different kind of space in the attic; a forgotten space with discarded items of furniture. This is where he can find refuge from the rest of the house, and where he is protected from ‘its protection’.
I switch from the comfortable forms in my studio drawings to my ‘yellow tape’ pieces, using PVC insulating tape on found pieces of white card. In a succession of movements I apply horizontal and vertical lengths. When the last piece of tape is applied it’s like shutting out the last square of light; something is buried, but then the thing within is unearthed, and a ‘light’ goes on within the space I’ve created. It is something that goes beyond a representation of a place.
Kral would at times find himself face to face with ‘the person’ in the bathroom mirror. ‘There was no doubt that this was where the whole mystery lay’. . . ‘trapped in the other room that suddenly appeared behind his double’ . . . Was there any way for him to reach it?’
