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Illustration

Eleanor Wemyss

In 2010 Eleanor graduated from Byam Shaw (Central Saint Martins) and continued her contemporary art practice, forming collaborations with music producers (Puzzlebeats) authors (Aleskandra Richlycka, author of Recount Me Always Anew) and Perfumers (Formula Drawings); creating immersive exhibition combining drawing, film and performance. Alongside this she developed a strong practice in participation programs running workshops with organisations such as The Big Draw in 2011 and Discover Bristol in 2012. In 2013 she was runner up in Peckham OPEN for an architecturally based drawing, this led to a remote residency producing a series of works for The House of Saint Barnabas in Soho, and in 2017 becoming resident artist for The Ed Lea Band, producing an album cover, and Band Logo. From 2013 to 2017 she ran the arts program for the 24 hour Peckham (London) based arts and music festival, commissioning art works for The Coronet and curating works throughout the festival. While studying on the MA at the RCA Elenor started to explore illustration through animal behaviour and environmental growth. In the summer of 2019 she won the Gorden Peter Pickard Travel Bursary to spend a month in Milford Haven collecting footprints and sound recordings of resident wildlife around Milford Haven Power Plant.  

Contact

@eleanorwemyss

https://www.eleanorwemyss.com

Degree Details

School of Communication

Illustration

2020 has been dedicated to developing a series of publications as part of a larger project - ‘The Importance of Not Being Present’. The publications respond to three sites that are uninhabited by humans and explore the affects of this lack of human presence. The publications use photographic imagery, text and animal footprints collected on site and are accompanied by sound recordings. 

This project has led to a long-term collaboration with Caitlin Kiely whose works explore healing landscapes. Together, Eleanor and Caitlin will be exploring where illustration sits in the world of research and in particular in an environmental and geographical context. 

Eleanor has developed a set of rules to ensure that she has minimal impact on the sites she is exploring. These ‘Rules for Practice’ enable her to make observational responses to the site while highlighting the importance of environmental conservation.  

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 1: Beneath our Feet — Hedgehog, and other unidentified footprints on paper, 148 x 210 mm

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 1: Beneath our Feet — Hedgehog, rat and other unidentified footprints on paper, 148 x 420 mm

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 1: Beneath our Feet — Hedgehog, rat and other unidentified footprints on paper, 148 x 420 mm

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 1: Beneath our Feet — European Pine Martin, Water Vole, amongst other unidentified foot prints on paper 420 x 148.5 mm.

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 1: Beneath our Feet — Hedgehog, Field mouse amongst other unidentified footprints on paper, 148 x 210 mm

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 1: Beneath our Feet — European Pine Martin, Water Vole, amongst other unidentified foot prints on paper 420 x 148.5 mm.

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 1: Beneath our Feet — Ottar footprints on paper measuring 297 x 420mm

This series of collaborative footprints forms the conclusion to a month long research trip collecting footprints from the surrounding area of Milford Haven Power Plant. The footprints were collected using a tunnel with a slide out bottom, Eleanor covered the bottom with paper and used masking tape on the edges. On the masking tape she painted a mixture of vegetable oil and black food colouring (so as not to effect the animals), in the middle of the tunnel safe food was placed as bait, and these were left over night. The resident wildlife walked through the tunnels creating a perfect print of their footprints. These footprints are proof of the presence of the resident wildlife due to both the microclimate created by the power plant and the lack of human presence. There is also an audio piece to have playing on a loop on headphones as you are browsing the prints. (links to these on below website.

RULES FOR PRACTICE | PRACTICE FOR RULES

-The collaborators must never meet.

-What is collected must never be changed in size colour or pitch.

-Reproductions must be completely the same size unless scale is indicated.

-The work is a collaboration | observation not a response

-The method must NOT leave a mark on the land.

-The collaboration must not impact the collaborator or its’ surrounding habitat.

-The work must be accessible to all who wish to view it.

-Analysing the collected material and recombining it happens in the studio.

-The process never ends and can be adapted to multiple sites.

-Experience of the work must be a solo activity.

-The audience must not visit the site; the work is proof of The Importance of Not Being Present.

-Nothing is too small or insignificant.

http://eleanorwemyss.com/the-importance-of-not-being-present-foot-prints/

Medium:

Footprints on paper from unidentified animals

Size:

Variable
ArchivecollabconservationdrawingenvironmentExplorative ResearchField Recordingprintmakingresearch illustration

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 2. — pages 13 and 14

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 2. — pages 19 and 20

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 2. — pages 23 and 24

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 2. — Pages 41 and 42

The Importance of Not Being Present: Vol 2 is an A5 publication that observes small and insignificant details in an area surrounding another power plant in the south of England. Each spread highlights an often-overlooked piece of vegetation that is only there because of the climate created by the power plant that sits in its surrounding area. Audio recorded in the site highlights what we can hear, but must not see. Reading this publication whilst listening to the audio on loop creates a space of quiet contemplation for the audience to absorb the information provided. The text is an outcome to observations Eleanor made in the site, commenting on the impact of her presence in the landscape, towards the end of the book her rules for practice are highlighted as a gentle reminder to the viewer that this is not an area she wishes you to visit.

RULES FOR PRACTICE | PRACTICE FOR RULES

-The collaborators must never meet.

-What is collected must never be changed in size colour or pitch.

-Reproductions must be completely the same size unless scale is indicated.

-The work is a collaboration | observation not a response

-The method must NOT leave a mark on the land.

-The collaboration must not impact the collaborator or its’ surrounding habitat.

-The work must be accessible to all who wish to view it.

-Analysing the collected material and recombining it happens in the studio.

-The process never ends and can be adapted to multiple sites.

-Experience of the work must be a solo activity.

-The audience must not visit the site; the work is proof of The Importance of Not Being Present.

-Nothing is too small or insignificant.

http://eleanorwemyss.com/the-importance-of-not-being-present-volume-2/

Medium:

Soft back, perfect bound publication, containing text and digital photography with accompanying audio on website.

Size:

a5, 52 pages

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 3: Pen-Y-Creigiau — Front page and pull out of 'Rules for Practice'

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 3: Pen-Y-Creigiau — Pages 3 and 4

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 3: Pen-Y-Creigiau — Pages 7 and 8

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 3: Pen-Y-Creigiau — Pages 19 and 20

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 3: Pen-Y-Creigiau — Pages 35 and 36

The Importance of Not Being Present, Volume 3: Pen-Y-Creigiau — Pages 43 and 44

The third publication in the series of The Importance of Not Being Present is an A5 publication guiding the viewer through the areas of land in a quarry starting to re-wild itself, breaking to highlight the collaboration between the artist and the land with close details of rubbings taken from the site. The sound, which is to be played whilst reading the images in the publication, highlights the presence of wildlife without having to see it. The images link together through colour with block colours being used to relate back to previous photos of growth within this landscape. Accompanying this publication is a short film to be played on a loop, illustrating the stillness of the landscape.

RULES FOR PRACTICE | PRACTICE FOR RULES

-The collaborators must never meet.

-What is collected must never be changed in size colour or pitch.

-Reproductions must be completely the same size unless scale is indicated.

-The work is a collaboration | observation not a response

-The method must NOT leave a mark on the land.

-The collaboration must not impact the collaborator or its’ surrounding habitat.

-The work must be accessible to all who wish to view it.

-Analysing the collected material and recombining it happens in the studio.

-The process never ends and can be adapted to multiple sites.

-Experience of the work must be a solo activity.

-The audience must not visit the site; the work is proof of The Importance of Not Being Present.

-Nothing is too small or insignificant.

http://eleanorwemyss.com/pen-y-craigieu/

Medium:

soft back, perfect bound publication of digital and analogue photography collage.

Size:

A5, 50 pages

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