Claude Heath
September 2004
A philosophy student from King's College, London, Claude heath's approach to his work is unorthodox. Blindfolded, he traces his subject with one hand and draws it with the other. As a student, Heath was introduced to the works of Ludwig Wittgenstein, who argued that if the question was the right one, the answer would take care of itself. Heath interprets this to mean that, '…philosophy is a discipline which thrives on it's own ineptness. You create a problem and become fascinated with 'it'. (1) This line is one which feeds centrally into the artist's own work.
Heath's drawings are intense, private dialogues between the sitter/object and the artist. Larger installations and prints require a modification of technique. The artist photographs his work, then projects the enlarged images onto paper, tracing the lines one by one with a pounce wheel, which perforates the surface. He then fixes the colour through the 'stencil'. These images lose the nervy intensity of the drawings, but produce a more clearly articulated line.
Heath also uses colour to differentiate each layer of his work. As he declares, 'I'm studying the act of drawing, the articulation of space…' (2) Heath exhibited at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (Antechamber, 1997) and took part in the Whitechapel Open (1996,1998). Claude Heath has also been shortlisted for the 1998 Jerwood Painting Prize.
1. Sarah Kent, Young British Artists VI (Saatchi Gallery, London 1996), no pagination.
2. Op. Cit.
Heath's drawings are intense, private dialogues between the sitter/object and the artist. Larger installations and prints require a modification of technique. The artist photographs his work, then projects the enlarged images onto paper, tracing the lines one by one with a pounce wheel, which perforates the surface. He then fixes the colour through the 'stencil'. These images lose the nervy intensity of the drawings, but produce a more clearly articulated line.
Heath also uses colour to differentiate each layer of his work. As he declares, 'I'm studying the act of drawing, the articulation of space…' (2) Heath exhibited at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (Antechamber, 1997) and took part in the Whitechapel Open (1996,1998). Claude Heath has also been shortlisted for the 1998 Jerwood Painting Prize.
1. Sarah Kent, Young British Artists VI (Saatchi Gallery, London 1996), no pagination.
2. Op. Cit.
Jennifer Ramkalawon