Pencil on

Chris Burton

4-22 March 2020 at anca gallery

anca gallery 1 Rosevear Place, Dickson ACT 2602. Wednesday to Sunday, noon - 5pm. Closed public holidays.

Pencil On investigates methods of translating urban spaces into abstract compositions, expressing depth and noise within constructed landscapes. Informed by interactions with both familiar and foreign spaces, the drawings react to environments that feature density, movement and repetitive architectural patterns. These are translated through the use of abstract tonal transitions, visual mapping and repetition of linear mark making.

By using similar mark making on varied surfaces - paper and board - Pencil On suggests a conversation about surface and its implications for tonality and space. The body of work engages conventional drawing practices and surfaces in a conversation with less-conventional alternatives. In
doing so, the works question what constitutes a drawing and explore the ongoing possibilities of varied drawing surfaces.

Chris Burton @christopherzburton

Chris Burton is a Canberra-based artist whose drawing practice interprets urban environments. His works depicts movement, density and architectural recurrences through high intensity repeated linear mark making. Utilising varied surfaces, his practice is reflexively concerned with the practice of drawing itself, including the implications of choosing paper or board.

The underlying focus of Burton’s practice is an exploration of his interactions with urban landscapes and architecture. The emphasis is on understanding new areas and familiar spaces, creating a memory-based visual mapping system of each environment. The mapping systems created through observational drawings outline recurring interruptions within urban forms. These systems are translated through repeating similar linear marks that build up weight and tone. Each repetition informs the next, creating large abstract areas of noise and immersive tonal transitions. With the tonal transitions on a flat plane there is a play and interruption with the negative space surrounding the work itself, creating a disturbance with its setting or placement in the room.

An emerging theme in Burton’s practice is a reflexive investigation into the practice of drawing. By experimenting with varied surfaces, his works question what constitutes a drawing and explore the ongoing possibilities of varied drawing surfaces.

Burton is an honours graduate from the Australian National University School of Art (2014) and recipient of the NSW Young Regional Artist Scholarship (2016).

[Above] Chris Burton, Transition One and Transition Two, 2020. Installation shot. Image courtesy the artist.

Chris Burton, Angled, 2020, pencil on paper mounted to board, 45 x 60cm. Image courtesy the artist.

Chris Burton, Angled (detail), 2020, pencil on paper mounted to board, 45 x 60cm. Image courtesy the artist.