Tom McVeigh, Visions (2021).
Reflection by Tamar Reavenall
(Fine Art: Drawing Year 2)
The success of Visions lies in its unexplained aura, as it features a cropped room filled with the comforts of home in the background, guarded by a crouching angelic winged statue in the foreground. The realism picks up on the harder shadows, describing the various textures of the environment into a detailed drawing. A discussion could follow - questioning the composition's meaning and its possible underlying purpose in relation to our current lockdown confinement.
The leading lines of the cascading robes draw our attention directly into the centre of the composite but then we follow the extended arm to the open door. The skilled layout of this offers a wandering throughout the work using mostly diagonal (fast-leading) directional lines. The open door seems haunting as the angel seems to open it and we begin to challenge whether this angel is of good intention. After discovering the angel has a shadow, a human form emerges from behind the statue. A whitened hand formulates the being into something physical and living, a juxtaposition to the cold still statue. I really enjoy the fact McVeigh did not leave viewers with an additional description; this sense of controlled revealing and a mapping around the drawing creates further complexity and various audience interpretation.
I chose this work because I have a very similar style, refined forms, highly worked, in a narrative that is left to infer. The monochrome also captured my attention versus the other colour-happy student works as it reflected a deeper, morose intention which I seemed to be drawn to the most. I enjoyed coming across this work and it made me consider how I should move forward myself in my technical ability and emotional discourse.
😊 Thank you Tom
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