Old Bones

I used to be an osteopath so it feels almost like a joke to now be making art about bones. I sometimes wonder if my bones were ever dug up if they would be splattered with indigo paint or sparkling like fairy lights. I’d like that.

I am interested in researching the bones more, this time less from an anatomical or functional perspective but from a metaphorical or metaphysical perspective. I would love to go back to the Hunterian, which I used to love and maybe even will go back to doing the Drawing Club they do. The Royal College of Radiologists was a regular haunt for me when I was a young osteopath and I still have a pile of X-rays I bought on eBay and used to draw into and - surprise surprise! - add fairy lights to. Here is the post from March 2021 where I started drawing landscapes into X-rays, so it seems these ideas have been around for a while…

This could be something I resurrect although I imagine something quieter and the painted marks are a bit clumsy, big landscapes over the top seems a bit basic. Perhaps some subtler drawings over the top or maybe some monoprints from the compost?