'New Elements' is the working title for a series of new, large, collaborative drawings. Since the publication of our book Arctic, Desert, Ocean, Jungle in May 2003 we began to create a fresh body of work made from the experience of our journeys into the wild. These are the first works we have made in the studio for 10 years.
The unifying theme of the drawings is their reference to the experiences we have shared making art in the bush close to Nature in close proximity to predators.
The language and iconography that we have been building throughout our artistic collaboration forms an underlying reference and structure to the work. By returning to the slower pace of the studio we have found the time to travel back and focus on important elements of these journeys.
The 'elements' relate to the key similarities and incongruities we have experienced whilst working in a wide variety of remote habitats with indigenous peoples and endangered animals. They include the key elements of survival, hunting, shelter and the fragile coexistence of man and beast.
As with our ongoing site-specific work, New Elements utilise both clarity and ambiguity to convey the storytelling of an experience. Through symbolism and representation we attempt to convey the metamorphosis of the natural world that is here now but may not be for much longer. With regard to the underlying rule of our collaboration, nothing has changed; "no experience, no art."