Love Letter to China

The impulse to draw, to leave a mark, the trace of an idea reflects more than a personal act of creativity, it defines who and what we are. It conveys what our values are, how we think and feel, more directly than any other form of visual expression. It is the most immediate way of engaging with experience, of observing our world and giving voice to our imagination.
The exhibition Love Letter to China brings together drawings by 35 Australian artists who explore the rich diversity of drawing strategies. Working across a range of drawing media the artists in this exhibition are producing new and challenging works, embracing traditional practice and the dynamic possibilities of what drawing offers in the 21st century.
Some drawings, such as that by Godwin Bradbeer from Melbourne or Mike Esson from Sydney grew from years of intense looking in the life drawing studio. In some works a narrative element is added to the pure recording of visual events. Megan Keating and Paul Zika from Tasmania use the most noble elements of decoration and pattern making in works that also celebrate colour and form. Some artists work with sheer spectacle such as Ben Morieson from Melbourne who films V8 cars burning rubber on a cement forecourt. What he creates is a trace of a fast, mechanical movement in which the driver of the car has to manipulate the steering wheel with the same urgency as someone drawing manipulates a pencil or stub of charcoal.
Love Letter to China is being shown at Ivan Dougherty Gallery in association with the International Drawing Research Institute (IDRI) and its biennial conference Drawing Connections II held at COFA. The International Drawing Research Institute is a consortium of three art schools; the Glasgow School of Art, Scotland, the Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing, and the College of Fine Arts, The University of New South Wales. Their aim is to support, encourage and promote the role of drawing in contemporary art practice through a range of research initiatives.