LATE NIGHT SKETCH TALES ii By Christopher Ian MacClements
3rd of October till the 5th of November 2019
Public opening event: Thursday the 3rd of October from 6-9pm. Complimentary wine and canapés will be served
‘Late Night Sketch Tales ii’ is a follow up to the collection, ‘Late Night Sketch Tales I’ exhibited in October 2018.
The first collection comprised of a 22 piece architectural hand styled drawing series, capturing some of Christopher’s favourite buildings and landmarks located in Cape Town. The second collection, Late Night Sketch Tales ii, is a series building on that style. This series however differs somewhat by intensity of hatch and style. Here, Christopher captures the subjects (buildings and public space) in a more ethereal light where the boundaries between the tangible nature of architecture and public space are blurred by the intangible realms of the imagination and mind.
“Each image is almost an ode to the imaginative nature with which I conjure and envision architecture to be – almost a dream state construct put onto paper and hopefully one day built”
The sketches in essence are a play on abstract realities. The striking contrast between light and dark is also meant to evoke a sense of these realities – that of conscious and unconscious. As Christopher perceives it, they play heavily on the ephemeral nature of the mind.
As these are more abstract than exact architectural representation, they rely heavily on the hand to move freely without using rulers. So, once the basic geometries have been referenced from the subject, he lets his imagination go to work. Layer after layer after layer. As a collection, each piece never completes itself without beginning the next. The works therefore never develop in isolation from one another. They must be viewed as a collective whole with each piece as one metaphorical piece of a puzzle.
“At any given time, I may bounce between 2-5 drawings – to keep the conceptual nature of the works as true to “ephemeral” as possible. They in essence may appear to the eye to be rather manic, but this is deliberate. Like my own thoughts they need to be stimulated by the next adventure, the next drawing, the next goal or image”
The series, aptly titled "Late Night Sketch Tales", was built over the course of the year during the late hours of each evening spent sketching. A culmination of a body of work more aligned with the practice of something you believe in and allowing that process to be your solace.
“This is the time I am the most honest, most at home, immersed in my music”
About Christopher:
Categorically I'm seen as a multi-disciplinary creative and architect, but really I'm just someone ‘doing his thing’, who tries daily to explore and interpret the inner workings of my mind, and others' minds through the circuitous process of exploring
My ‘thing’, I guess, stems from my daily pursuits in architecture, graffiti, illustration, motion, graphic design, film, music and beat-boxing; I strive to cultivate a multifaceted design approach that draws inspiration from all my respective fields of interest. I equate each discipline that I love as a string to my bow - each one therefore has an equally instrumental role in hitting my mark and finding my voice as a ‘creative’
