Lensmen (Case Study)

A year long residency, with no creative agenda other than experimentation and honest reaction.

Drawing in situ, in rehearsal, in recording studio, in conversation, my work happened. Unable to think beyond the sound (fully amped and loud) externals were eliminated and a resulting purity of interpretation, emotion and mark making rendered the emergent drawings.

Largely direct with ink on paper, the artworks are raw and intuitive, responding to sound, music, vibe, mood and atmosphere. It was intense: intensely productive and intensely brilliant.

Lensmen are a 5 piece band – dark and atmospheric.

Their explorations of the passions draw influences from post punk, new wave and psychedelia. and have been paired with the likes of Bauhaus, Joy Division and Nick Cave.

Focusing on the politics of death, dying and staying alive they provide a visceral soundtrack to life and to it’s passing

The Day of the Dead Exhibition was an experimental collaboration of words, drawings and music. Teaming up with writer Alun Hughes, a conversation on grief was explored using Lensmen’s lyrics as currency in which we corresponded within the bounds of our medias. Responding in a different language (words or pictures) but with a common ground of openness and understanding. All this to the melody of melancholic Lensmen.

The resulting exhibition and off shoot at The Roses Arts centre Tewkesbury, SVA Stroud and Chapel Arts Cheltenham, the documentary film, interviews and radio soundbites, marked a personal and collaborative achievement and period of great personal development.