Rest

The sculptor Nigel Ellis (b.1960) has a fascination with natural stones and monoliths. He has spoken of how, during a trip to Ireland following a commission for a sculpture at Goodwood sculpture park, he began to look closely at stones in the landscape: 'ancient standing stones, the glittering white quartz stones of Connemara, and the moon-like surface of the Burren.' At that point he became interested in their landscape settings: 'I felt that the shadow areas that all these forms were looming out of had some kind of significance for me that was more profound. The dark or white of the page becomes the ground of the "not remembered", out of which objects emerge that are highly charged in touch or other significance.' This is the background to the drawing 'Rest', which shows a white sculptural form suspended at the top of the sheet against a rich black background.