Richard McVetis - Making his mark

Looking at Richard McVetis' work is engrossing. The London based artist uses needles and thread to make marks and 'draw' his ideas. In his artworks he is preoccupied with process, looking at concepts like time (Units of Time, the cubes above) and considering how it feels.

We are drawn to art initially from a purely aesthetic point of view, but as we delve a little deeper individual lines, brush strokes or stitches are given context and reveal new meaning. 

The work of Richard's that most engaged me was a series of artworks entitled Light Abstractions. From afar the tiny black stitches on the fleecy wool resemble a colony of ants, but what Richard is representing here is cities at night. He worked from aerial photos so when abstracted each stitch represents an individual light. The piece focuses on the pattern created at a macro scale by humans and their interaction with the landscape.   

What patience must be needed! Needle work has such a rich traditional history but I love seeing this old way of expression harnessed in the modern age. Often in art all we are doing is mark making. Leaving an impression physically on a material. Simple stitches can help us to question our environment and see the world from a new perspective.