Utilizing a system whereby the ruled grid becomes the vessel for a lexicon of hand-drawn symbols, the principal theme in Madeleine Joy Dawes’ work is the utilization of iterative mark making as a temporal site to record measured and psychological time. This emphasis upon time and repetition informs Dawes’ work in a way that allows her to mediate rather than mirror the world; an attempt to coordinate thought and stabilize the disorder of the everyday.

Underpinned by the language, tactility and intimacy of textile-based crafts, works that initially masquerade as digital prints are subverted from by subtle nuances and imperfections in mark making. Dawes considers her practice as something of a solitary durational performance, the completed works acting as the archive, or documentation of the event. As such, the resulting works exist not as a snapshot of time, but as a continual processing and unfolding thereof.

Through surrendering to this outwardly mechanised appearing process, Dawes is afforded the time to process loss, grief and joy, as is the case with this body of work that responds to the disintegration of a relationship that though laden with good intent, ultimately found its foundations tempestuously built in fear.