On the Brink - Drawing

Roger Adamson is the conscience of the global maritime and shipping industry, holding a mirror up to uncomfortable truths and exploring the tension between transformation and timelessness, trade and nature, liminality, and the threshold between old and new. Documenting today’s marine industry as it undergoes a shift every bit as epochal as that from sail to steam, Adamson’s lines capture and echo the myriad boundaries between old and new confronting seafarers, ships, vessels, wildlife and people around the world, now and through time. Roger travels extensively to capture the dynamic maritime environment, its changing infrastructure, industry and people. Working from his studio overlooking the English Channel – the busiest shipping lane in the world – he creates his compelling, unique signature drawings. Like the sea, permanent pen and ink is an unforgiving medium that leaves an artist nowhere to hide, demanding discipline, precision and control in order to convey its loose, vital dynamism. Continually refining his practice Adamson seeks to master the challenge as he chronicles, juxtaposes and distils the emerging needs and the eternal truths of both ocean and unseen industry he loves.