Christopher Guest

My practice is concerned with obsessional mark making, with issues of time, the fight to cover or not to cover the entire working surface and the permanence/impermanence of the image.

I am investigating the thought that we leave a residue everywhere we go, in our actions/inactions and in our thoughts. This thought process is not always evident in the pictures I draw but is a necessity in creating them.

I build the images up in fragmented layers, much like a broken mirror, to achieve an organic and chaotic feeling - which is in conflict with the orderly and precise nature of the detail. This echoes many of today’s hectic yet rigidly structured lifestyles.

I draw with an architectural pen, the nib of which is one-tenth the size of a regular biro pen- the monotony of constant mark making with such an implement allows for total immersion into the image. I do my day dreaming through drawing.

I feel share similarities to my work come from the 19th Century Outsider Artists Augustin Lesage, Adolf Wolfli and Madge Gill who created alternate worlds within their drawings to escape the hardship of their reality. Whilst I have no desire to escape my lifestyle, I rigidly set aside uninterrupted 10 hourly drawing sessions throughout the night in a compulsive attempt to cover every part of the surface.

This compulsion has drawn comparisons with Horror Vacui- an obsession to completely cover and remove any “voids” from the surface upon which I draw. I find my later works challenging this obsession, almost daring myself to leave empty spaces and taunting me to complete them throughout the night.

This year I will be making further works for solo exhibitions in Manchester’s Cornerhouse Gallery, UK , as well as two international exhibitions in Chicago, USA, and Gdansk in Poland. I hope to extend my practice into ceramic forms after selling my first ceramic piece at the British Ceramic Biennial.

All of the art displayed here is for sale in original and Limited Edition prints formats.

www.christopherguest.tumblr.com

Please contact Christopher Guest first if you want to borrow any of these images on skasteppa@yahoo.co.uk