In Harold and the Purple Crayon, the younger protagonist composes a fantasy actuality utilizing the deceptively easy energy of line. Harold manifests quite a few adventures with a single writing instrument, drawing himself into ever extra thrilling capers. For artist Adam Ledford, Crockett Johnson’s iconic 1955 kids’s guide supplies one reference level for his strategy to large-scale installations.
Ledford dots life-size line drawings of home areas with “half pots,” or reliefs of ceramic vessels, which mirror how on a regular basis objects signify people’ values, experiences, and projection of id. Canisters of espresso or cleansing options element classic packaging design, whereas different gadgets like cooking utensils or ornamental objects spotlight private style and day by day routines.
“I am the person visiting your house, who is eyeing up all the tchotchkes, asking about your tea kettle, and picking up and looking at the bottom of your tableware,” Ledford tells Colossal. He credit his love for pottery for offering the lens by way of which he additionally realized America’s historic timeline, describing how “the objects help set a mental stage for the abstract process of thinking about the past.”
In Ledford’s expansive installations, which vary from a number of partitions to single architectural options, black-and-white outlines signify kitchen cupboards, counter tops, or fireplaces—areas the place containers and vessels are collected, saved, or displayed. “Theater,” for instance, is a reproduction of his personal kitchen. The artist says, “The drawn environments are a stage setting for the objects to play and star.”
Ledford’s work is at present on view in Dinner Desk, on view by way of Might 29 at The Delaware Modern in Wilmington. Discover extra on the artist’s web site and Instagram. You may additionally benefit from the hand-drawn installations of Anastasia Parmson and Shantell Martin.
