Gesturing

Lark Alder 

During the lockdown of 2020, I (like many others) felt that I should seize the downtime for creative projects, but at the same time found it very difficult to focus and work creatively.

This was especially true for the kind of work I usually make — conceptually-driven interactive digital work like experimental video games and elaborate speculative futures. I felt caught between wanting to work on these projects, and facing the reality I didn’t have the bandwidth to fry an egg.

So I began a series of drawings where the only goal was to see what kind of mark I intuitively made on the page. It became a practice of withholding judgment and accepting each shape that emerged as a valid expression of creativity.

I have filled many journals with these drawings. They have evolved over time, taking on new shape and form as the ritual practice iterated through the seasons.

This winter I began to explore different ways the drawings could manifest in physical space. After digitizing them, I used a 3d printer to extrude the shapes into sculptural form and a laser cutter to cut them out of scrap plastic.

The series as a whole is an exploration of gesture and intuition, of simple pleasure and permutation.