Over the first three months of my residency I have been watching the demolition of the old building occupying the construction site.
In the act of demolition, countless new forms have been created from constantly breaking the old building into smaller and smaller pieces.
The site has gone from being an object big enough for you to walk around in, to a seemingly infinite amount of objects that can fit in your pocket or bag.
I have spent a lot of time scavenging through the great piles of rubble, filling my bag and contributing to the massive effort to move all this rubble from the site. Most of this material has ended up in my studio being used to make drawings like these.
I have also delegated the task of removing the rubble by giving pieces away at my gallery sessions. This was an edition of 25 pieces collected from the site on April 24.
The machines that create all this rubble are fascinating to watch, they wield such power but are operated with extraordinary dexterity by their drivers.
I have always liked the JCB buckets they are like huge mechanic hands.
I really like this image, combining both my love of rubble piles and JCB buckets, the bucket sitting proudly onto of what it has created.
In recent weeks the site has been cleared for the arrival of the colossal piling rigs, that pour great columns of concrete into the ground side by side to create a perimeter wall around the site in preparation for excavation.
These machines are difficult to get near to so I have been making drawings of the figures of the site guys operating and guiding them. Despite their size and force they rely on the work of many pairs of hands to carry out their work
When heavy objects are moved by the cranes a guide rope hangs from them for someone on the ground to hold in order to guide them to their destination, but they always look like they are walking along with huge helium balloons or flying kites.
