Solitude

2020

164 x 114

Pencil on paper

I started this drawing after taking one of the longest breaks in my career to date. In the last few months, many of us have spent a lot more time alone than we’re used to. The story of Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, has stuck with me since I heard it a few years ago, and I found myself returning to it these past months.

I have mixed feelings about loneliness. It is something I often try to escape but the nature of my work is that I spend most of my time alone. Being in isolation for the last few months has been an amazing test. Being able to sit with my loneliness, and finding that the feeling is temporary, has been really helpful in my relationship with solitude.

Ruin

2020

114 x 80

Pencil on paper

There has been a chaotic, unsettled feeling in the air - I’ve found it difficult to focus and do the things I used to do with ease. Things are scary and uncertain across the world but there is a connectedness and a reassessing of what’s important. It feels like things are changing and will never be the same again, but I’m hopeful that from these ruins, from everything that is broken, new and beautiful things will grow

Discomposure

I feel there has been a sort of tearing away from the self I have grown to know over the years... Breaking away from my more recent work, this piece marks a departure as well as a development within my life. Making mistakes, as well as coming to terms with those mistakes, is something with which I have always struggled. It reflects in my work that I try to maintain control over as much of my practice and personal life as possible. But while striving for perfection, or just general people pleasing is motivating and can feel good, feeling bound by this standard can be more like a crutch or defence mechanism than an authentic way of being. This piece considers the burden of shame, my own practice of composure and ultimately, the process of dismantling that composure and being seen; flaws and all. I hope you enjoy it!

Sage

2020

80 x 114cm

Pencil on paper

From the artist: “The new year has brought with it many changes in my life. It’s been scary, all this change, but I am learning to trust myself, and to trust that while these changes have the potential to cause pain, they also offer a chance for me to understand myself more deeply, to reassess old fears and, above all, to grow. This drawing has been with me for much of this journey. It has remained the constant to which I returned to every day in studio. The figure of the blind sage has continued to offer a small sense of peace during this time, a quiet wisdom that sees more clearly by feeling than by sight. He turns towards something out of frame. To the future, perhaps, and to the place to which all these changes lead.”

Honey

2019

80 x 114cm

Pencil on paper

From the artist: “Over the past two years, I’ve felt so caught up in trying to produce work that means something, that has depth and isn’t simply decorative. Previously, I had enjoyed the challenge of trying to merge thought and image, but recently I have found myself trapped by concepts. I worried the themes I had been exploring were beginning to feel limiting, like I had worn them out. I had forgotten how it felt to play, and my work was beginning to feel stagnant. With this drawing, I rediscovered a very simple joy in making. To make without pressure, to make differently, and without the weight of meaning or substance. Meaning came later – as the drawing came into focus so too did its conceptual intrigue. But for me this piece is less about ideas than it is a rediscovery of the pleasure in creating. I have always loved drawing eyes, and used to draw one every year to mark my progress. After a two-year pause, I’m happy to return to the habit.”

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Tulip

2019

80 x 114cm

Pencil on paper

From the artist: “I often find planning a drawing to be the hardest part of the process. At times, it feels like I'm fighting against the persistent force of self-doubt and uncertainty. But this drawing was an exception. It seemed to compose itself with little of the usual frustration and anxiety. The figure's open pose so perfectly echoed the tulips in late bloom. It was a pleasure to draw.”

Return

2019

80 x 114cm

Pencil on paper

From the artist: “This drawing begun so easily. It was only when I was almost finished that I realised the figure's expression had escaped me. I struggled to capture the subtleties of her face. Her expression is at once apprehensive and surprised, as if the viewer had intruded into her space and disturbed her solitude. I spent as much time re-drawing her face as I did shading the rest of the image. At times she seemed lifeless, too overworked, her face darkened by revisions. But I was able to find her again, just in time.”

In My Silence

2019

1.64 x 1.14 m

Graphite on paper

‘In My Silence’ continues Jono Dry’s series on mental health and its metaphors.

The work was drawn over four-hundred hours.

From the artist: “This new pencil drawing, ‘In My Silence’, continues with the theme of my previous works centred around mental health. This drawing was such a pleasure to work on; it seemed to flow so easily. We are told to constantly push ourselves, that discomfort is good, that it promotes growth. While this is true, it also creates the idea that when we are comfortable, we become stagnant. This drawing reminded me that it’s okay to seek comfort, to enjoy the process, and to return to the familiar.”

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Nurtured Nature (Male)

2019

1.64 x 1.14 m

Graphite on paper

‘Nurtured Nature (Male)’ continues Jono Dry’s series on mental health and its metaphors. The flowers appear as ambiguous symbols, at once hopeful and unexpected.

From the artist: “This new pencil drawing is the male counterpart to the ‘Nurtured Nature’ pair of figures.  There is so often a temptation to share my side of the work, what it means to me, but I have come to realise that the final part of the process is to let the work go and to become its own thing through the eyes of other people. It's almost a galvanising process, in which complexity and meaning, which I could never anticipate, are added by viewers’ spontaneous interpretations.”

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Nurtured Nature (Female)

2019

1.64 x 1.14 m

Graphite on paper

‘Nurtured Nature (Female)’ continues Jono Dry’s series on mental health and its metaphors. The flowers appear as ambiguous symbols, at once hopeful and uncertain.

From the artist: “It’s been a slow process drawing figures isolated in darkness, slowly unpacking my own experiences through my work. It takes a long time to work on yourself, to slowly start to understand yourself and eventually begin to like or love yourself. I don’t know if you ever reach a point where you fully accept what you discover, but I think being ok with learning slowly is part of the process.”

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Separation

2019

80 x 114cm

Graphite on paper

The figure in ‘Separation’ is restrained by his own strength as he pulls at the fabric that binds him. He appears as a sculpture, seated as he is on a marble plinth. Above, dreamlike and strange, a hot balloon hangs in the air.

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I AM

2019

1.64 x 1.14 m

Graphite on paper

In I am, Jono Dry turns to figures from myth to find an expression of mental health that is both multiple and personal.

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Iris

2018

1.64 x 1.14 m

Graphite on paper

‘Iris’ is named for the flowers growing from the figure’s head. It is an ambiguous image, at once dark and promising.

From the artist: “Sometimes it’s important to reward yourself. To take the pressure off and do something familiar, to give yourself some confidence again. After the previous drawing I decided to treat myself to something I knew I could do. Drawing this piece was nothing but joy. Looking forward to coming into the studio every day, I enjoyed getting lost in details with out doubting myself.  While it’s important to push yourself, there is an element of anxiety and stress around constantly trying to push what you are doing to the next level. I think it’s important to sometimes put what you have learned to practice by visiting something familiar. It gives you an opportunity to see how you have grown.”

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In Pursuit, I am Entrapped

2018

1.64 x 1.14 m

Graphite on paper

The hot air balloon is an unlikely image – hanging above the bound figure it appears at once hopeful and vaguely ominous. It tugs at the binds that tie figure, pulling them ever tight, even as the figure tugs back.

From the artist: “After finishing the previous drawing, I felt lost for ideas. I spent weeks on planning and felt no real connection to any of the compositions I was coming up with. Out of frustration I started creating this piece. I didn’t like it at first but as the idea unraveled it started to perfectly portray how I was feeling. Pursuing this huge need to create something was the very thing locking me up. I’m so relieved to be out of the creative block and so happy to have created this drawing which for me, perfectly represents that space.”

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Restrained, I Unravel

2018

1.64 x 1.14m

Graphite on paper

The figure is at once horned, bound and faceless. She pulls at her restraints as if to free herself, but only draws them tighter around her.

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Wrapped in Tradition

2018

1.64 x 1.14 m

Graphite on paper

The title of this work references the many ways in which tradition stifles and confines the mind. Here the bindings gesture to the expectations and pressures that restrain us, the horns to those parts of us that are neither rational nor entirely human.

From the artist: “I’ve been enjoying playing with different textures and experimenting with different drawing techniques as elements in the work. This piece uses traditional cross hatching to render the bandage binding the figure. The skin and details are drawn using my own technique which I’ve been working on for the past couple of years.”

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Ritual

2018

1.64 x 1.14 m

Graphite on paper

‘Ritual’ continues Jono Dry’s series on mental healths and its metaphors. The animal horns appeal to those parts of us that are neither rational nor entirely human, the water to all that is fluid, changeable, and cleansing.

From the artist: “I found myself intimidated by the task of naming this piece. It’s a challenging part of the process to give your work a title. The title is an opportunity to use words to add to the image, to nudge it in a certain direction. You want to do the work justice and not limit its potential by putting it into a box. But the more I tried to give it swords, the more I found I was just revealing my own limitations towards the work. Once you let a work go and share it, something amazing happens. It becomes this small puzzle piece in other people’s creative process. They send back their interpretations, their words which are far beyond what I could have imagined. Thank you all for being a part of this ritual and sharing your thoughts about the work with me.”

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Mask

2018

1.64 x 1.14 m

Graphite on paper

Like ‘Ritual’, ‘Mask’ continues Jono Dry’s series on mental healths and its metaphors. The animal horns appeal to those parts of us that are neither rational nor entirely human, the water to all that is fluid, changeable, and cleansing.

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Cocoon

2018

80 x 114cm

Graphite on paper

The imagery of ‘Cocoon’ is unsettling in its dark undertones, the figure straining to breathe through the fabric that obscures them.

From the artist: “I experimented with different textures in this new drawing. Unlike the previous drawing, this piece is starting to get some clarity back in the hands. The bandages were drawn with a very basic technique – no blending, just normal graphite shading. It reminds me when I was first learning to draw. I feel like this drawing marks a new direction with slowly letting go of the hyperrealism that has been such a safe space for me over the years.”

Venus

2017

1.64 x 1.14 m

Graphite on paper

‘Venus’ continues Jono Dry’s series on mental healths and its metaphors. The animal horns appeal to those parts of us that are neither rational nor entirely human, the water to all that is fluid, changeable, and cleansing.

Handle

2017

1.64 x 1.14 m

Graphite on paper

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In Its Grip

2016

1.64 x 1.14m

Graphite on paper

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Pupil

2017

80 x 144cm

Graphite on paper

From the artist: “I finished this pencil drawing just over three years ago, and it still remains the single most challenging drawing I have done. I worked on it for about 5-6 months over the span of a year. This is perhaps the reason I haven’t done an eye drawing since.

Working on this image was an incredibly challenging journey. I questioned whether I still enjoyed drawing and at stages lost all sense of achievement attached to this work. Completing this work came with a huge sense of relief and pride. Even now, I'm still trying to process the experience and figure out what it means to me.”

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