Dwall: between awake and asleep

Abstract

This paper is a description of the research and processes that have culminated in the graduating master's thesis exhibition Dwall. This body of work consists of large-scale drawing and printmaking gallery installations that explore culture as well as darkness and fear, narrative and nature. These pieces have a surreal, illustrative and darkly whimsical quality highly influenced by artists like Kiki Smith, Collette Urban, Jim Holyoak, Albrecht Dürer, Swoon, Damien Hirst and Anselm Kiefer. This supporting paper will place the work in the contemporary and historical context of these artists, and also explore how all these complementary, conflicting influences have led to the production of a graduate-level body of work—particularly with a focus on the paradoxical nature of darkness and how it is a necessary tool for creation.