By Ethan Scotney 2025
Dimensions: 780mm x 1060mm
Medium: Graphite pencil on 300gsm Hahnemuhle etching paper
About
The design of the small room, situated at the centre of a small lake, surrounded by gabion walls of demolition waste such as concrete, brick, stone, etc. Incorporates ideas of reuse, journey, and reflection.
The journey to such a small room begins at the bottom left, one stepping over a platform that shifts between the entrance and exit, ensuring one’s journey is not disturbed. In here, time stands still. What stands in front of a long corridor, the subtle sounds of the water and dancing speckled light as it makes its way through the cracks in the gabion wall, allowing brief, very restricted glimpses into the spaces that lie ahead. However, views of the small room are thwarted by its reflective cladding. As one reaches the end and crosses over the threshold of stone and water, a small, steel opening, appearing as if it were floating, sits separate from the gabion wall and protrudes out, enticing one to enter. Leaving all connections to the outside world in a small box at the entrance, one crawls in. In doing so, one’s vision is directed upwards and out by the textured timber floor, in stark contrast to the stone that lines the gallery space. Out of the window, a lake, filled with lilies, slowly rippling in the wind. As one moves to face the artwork in front of them, with the slow shimmer and ripple of the water, the slight texture of the timber under them and their back against the wall. One can rest, be with themselves, and experience the work in front of them undisturbed.
When exiting, one crawls back out and around the gabion wall, and at last the reflective form of the gallery is properly revealed to them as it sits, seemingly floating on the water. Here, one is not confronted by views of speckled light, of calm vistas. Instead, one is faced with oneself. And for a moment, one perhaps catches a changed perspective on what they see within themselves. One sits with this for a while, contemplating the journey before exiting the space and allowing a new journey to begin.