Floating Time is a new series of drawings and prints. These artworks utilise the repetitive and controlled mark making of straight, ruled lines. This repetitious drawing action is like a form of timekeeping; the marks becoming a visual record representing time and labour. Favouring organic forms over rigid and pre-planned geometry, the processes behind these drawings and prints incorporate chance-based elements. The forms that emerge can be seen like geometric versions of a tree’s growth rings or geological strata. Over time, Vassallo’s artworks have become increasingly linked to the environment. In an attempt to connect her highly laborious process to the sublime beauty of nature, the large-scale drawings in this series utilise colour palettes observed by the artist in the natural world around her. 

These artworks are focused on process. When beginning each drawing or print, Vassallo sets up new parameters and instructions to work within. In creating a systems-based process to generate each artwork, Vassallo plays with the idea of control by narrowing the space available for artistic decision-making in the studio. Each new system is a challenge designed to test her ability and limitations both mentally and physically. The artworks that emerge attempt to visualize the tension between control and freedom, the natural and man-made. Though a relatively restricted way to generate artworks, fluctuations in pressure, lapses in concentration and the physical limitations of the human body form an intricate and uncontrolled texture in these artworks.

Installation images by Docqment