Interbeing

About

Anders Gramer and Bethan McFadden present a series of collaborative works combining ink and graphite with photography. 

Drawing on a shared interest in biological processes and the nature of mind, ‘Interbeing’ offers a visual exploration of the interconnectedness of organic life, examining the impermanence of the body and the possibilities of transformation.  

We are not alone in our bodies. The average human is comprised of 30 trillion cells but plays host to an even greater number of bacteria. Each of these microorganisms behaves as a ‘self’, engaging in a dialogue with the human self. In joint pieces that combine drawing and ink with photography, and individual pieces created in response to the other’s work, Anders and Bethan probe the nature of interdependence and autonomy, exploring what it means to be receptive and responsive, singular yet multitudinous. 

The forms that emerge from the collaboration often appear in motion, some caught in moments of transformation. Cells scatter or coalesce. One organism dies and unfolds into another. The overall impression is of life in flux, ever ending, ever beginning, transitory and miraculous.

Anders Gramer

Anders is a Swedish artist who has been based in London for the last twenty years. He holds a BA in fine art of photography from University of Gothenburg.

The foundation of his work arises from his interest in science and the two main concepts which are at the heart of his Buddhist beliefs; interconnection and impermanence. 

He divides his work between commercial photography and his own art projects.

Recent exhibitions include Art Licks; London, Slaughter House Gallery; London, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati and Center of Fine Art Photography, Colorado.

Bethan McFadden 

Bethan creates works on paper in pencil, Indian ink and oil bar. Her work is inspired by nature, consciousness and impermanence, and it is informed by her own explorations into the nature of mind, Buddhist philosophy, observational drawing, and the work of artists such as Chinese ink painter Liu Dan, illustrator Ralph Steadman and outsider artist Guo Fengyi. 

Through combining a process of spontaneous mark making in ink or oil bar with a disciplined drawing practice, she is searching for, and occasionally succeeds in finding, balance. 

Since completing a BA Drawing at Camberwell College of Art in 2008, she has exhibited her work in a number of exhibitions in the UK and abroad, including at The Horse Hospital; London, Woman Made Gallery; Chicago and Limner Gallery; Hudson New York. She currently lives in South London.