The Listener #1 Print

“The Listeners” is one of a series of drawings created during 2018 – 2019, when I was also working on my book manuscript, “The Clearing” which will be published in March 2020. I was thinking and writing about how radio waves are essentially of the same nature as visible light, and how the electromagnetic spectrum reminds us that there is so much more to the natural world than our eyes can ever see. I was also thinking a lot about listening, and distance. That’s when I began to draw these antenna structures. Usually home-built, they capture wavelengths that are used by amateur radio enthusiasts. They also make me think about my father, who was a keen radio amateur, or ‘HAM’, and who listened to the sky with home built antennae like these. The drawing (or is it a painting?) is unframed on plywood, in layers of gesso, ink, pigment ink and graphite. It would look good framed simply in a white or black 'float' frame.