The opening of a new exhibition at the Orkney Museum takes place on Saturday, February 4.
Recent Drawings by Rik Hammond is a collection of abstract drawings that challenge the viewer to use their own imagination to interpret the images on display.
Originally from Hastings in East Sussex, Rik studied Fine Art at Falmouth School of Art and Design in Cornwall. He lived in Hartlepool, in the north east of England, before moving to Orkney in 2004.
Rik, who lives in St Margaret’s Hope, is currently the Orkney World Heritage Site artist in residence, but the drawings in this exhibition are not from that project, as Rik explains:
“The work that I’ve chosen for the show here at the Orkney Museum is a brief snapshot of (mostly small-scale) drawings made between 2010 and 2012.
“I work in a variety of media, and in particular I draw extensively – commonly using fairly traditional materials such as paper, ink and pencil. My drawings are nearly always abstract and often automatic. I enjoy the immediacy and intimacy of working on paper. I rarely title drawings and I routinely work in series.
“I try to draw every day – often starting with a blank sheet of paper (loose or in a drawing book) and little, if any, specific direction in mind, perhaps just the type of pen or pencil I like the idea of starting with.
“For me drawing is an instinctive activity akin to the process of thinking. I tend to approach drawing in an experimental way, often treating it as an automatist exercise. I enjoy it when a drawing feels like it is beginning to direct its own route. Enquiry, chance and experiment tend to be the basis for the decisions I make whilst producing work – although recurring motifs, memories and shapes commonly emerge.”
Recent Drawings by Rik Hammond is on show from February 4 - 25. The Orkney Museum is open Monday – Saturday, 10.30am – 12.30pm, 1.30 – 5pm. Admission is free.
The artist will be at the Orkney Museum on Saturday, February 4, from 10.30am – 12.30pm to talk about his work.
