It is here in a worn-down province

I am obsessed by the seemingly endless vitality and flexibility inherent to the act of drawing. Being arguably one of the oldest modes of communication there is something so deeply rooted, open, adaptive and non- exclusive about the practice of making marks on a surface in various ways to embody an idea or sensation.(Nathan Hawkes, 2019 ref: www.chalkhorse.com.au/artists/nathan-hawkes)

Nathan Hawkes’ lyrical pastel drawings are concerned with form, atmosphere and process, while being firmly embedded in everyday life. Wisps of figures emerge from whorls of pigment, while recognisable objects, foliage and snippets of text are revealed and obscured by abstract pulses of colour.

Enigmatic and open, they recall fairytales or dreams and have a richly muddled and compressed quality that suggests time is simultaneous and knowledge is fugitive. Text is included for its phonetic qualities, implying a layer of sound. The figures and objects are not illustrative, but rather project a sense of ambiguity or potential action. The viewer is free to take their own imaginative journey
through the work, and to form their own conclusions.

Drawing is an intuitive and emotional process for Hawkes. Subject to the broader circumstances of their making – in this case an era of environmental and geopolitical crises, as well as the everyday dynamics of a family home – drawing is a way of engaging his senses. A poetic evocation of feeling in visual form, Hawkes’ drawings comfort as much as they exorcise.