Small Corner of the State

Small Corner of the State
steel and timber

The initial starting for this work was the ‘brand’. This is in an agricultural context and in a somewhat more humane way continues to this day.

I chose to focus on the small farming area where I grew up. Brands were signifiers of ownership over animals and land. They were recognisable to the local community. Working like a blacksmith, I am drawn to their mode of construction and their use of heat as a catalyst for a ‘painful imprint’. I recall a corner of an open shed where brands were tried out to judge their heat and legibility.

I have mimicked this process using brand imprints from a bygone era. Although the history, politics and harshness of the brand is important, I am just as drawn to the process of using heat to make an imprint onto timber almost in the way you might create a drawing.
It is important to note that this is only a maquette, a starting point for a much larger work that hopefully will become less tangible and less weighed down by its methods of construction and parameters.

work in progress
curator visit

Kevin Draper with Kim Jameson, Anna Louise Richardson and Chris Malcolm