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.
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
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 animalsSize:
Variable
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
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
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/