Innocent

Innocent originates from a family photograph of children playing with a toy gun while an adult sits beside them. One child points the gun towards him as he extends his hand. The gesture remains ambiguous: is he showing the children how to use it, asking them to put it down, or simply participating in their game?

I was drawn to the contradiction within this seemingly ordinary scene. The children are innocent, their actions understood as play, yet the object they imitate belongs to an adult world of violence and consequence. The title Innocent leaves the question deliberately unresolved: who is innocent here, and at what point does innocent play acquire another meaning?

The drawing is made on paper I created by pulping earlier prints and drawings. Fragments of those images remain within its fibres, although they can no longer be seen. Its irregular edges, warm colour and textured surface give the drawing the quality of an object that has already lived another life.

Image and material therefore share the same ambiguity: something familiar is transformed and seen again. Beneath the apparent simplicity of a childhood scene, another meaning quietly remains.

Title: Innocent
Year: 2022
Medium: Drawing on handmade recycled paper
Dimensions: Approx. 56 × 56 cm (22 × 22 in), with naturally irregular edges
Paper: Handmade by the artist from pulped prints and drawings
Framing: Unframed
Signature: Signed by the artist
Certificate of Authenticity: Included

Exhibited: Glasgow School of Art, MLitt Postgraduate Degree Show, 2022; Eye to Paper, Edinburgh Palette, Edinburgh, 2023