IAN WATSON: SUMMER GRASS, WINTER WORM

About

Ian Watson’s drawings contain a level of precision that might suggest digital manipulation, but are, in fact, painstakingly rendered by hand. This attention to detail is equally present in the subjects he chooses. The drawings and paintings found in this exhibition are largely informed by ‘a misspent youth hiding out with like-minded mutants in video rental shops and woodlands in East Sussex’. He’s creating his own world, at first glance, nightmarish, but the more you explore - visually and conceptually – the more these worlds reveal their everyday qualities.  And it’s when we really examine the everyday that we begin to see how weird it really is.

Watson also produces experimental sound works. These often take inspiration and direct recordings from unexpected sources, including the surface noise of analogue formats (vinyl and cassette), electromagnetic bursts from consumer electronics and other usually undesirable by-products of recording music.

Watson’s exhibition at Oriel Mwldan follows his recent residency for Cardiff Contemporary 2014, which saw him gathering tales of mysterious animals roaming the city and sharing these through his blog, Bestiary of the Estranged.

We invite you to explore his world.