Artist: Lee Edwards

Domo Baal presents 'Absence is Presence', marking Lee Edwards' third solo exhibition in the gallery. A group of meticulous A6 drawings on paper emanate from an artist's residency at Shiro–Oni in the town of Onishi, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, that Lee took part in last Summer. Immersed in and surrounded by the hilly wooded landscape, these works present a direct response both to place as well as to the disconnect from his familiar surroundings and relationships.

"Everywhere you look – from almost every vantage point – there are tree–covered mountains surrounding the town, looking down and reminding you that you are in the countryside. A sharp contrast between this and aspects of urbanisation. In these drawings there is a question – what defines the image – is it the mountainside, or is it the silhouettes of the shapes in front? Whether the distinctive shapes of an aerial, cables or the eaves of a Japanese building, it becomes apparent to the viewer that the negative spaces feature as prominently as the drawn area of the background. The stark whiteness of the paper creates a sharp contrast with the pencil marks describing the natural landscape in the distance."

The distinction between 'Absence' and 'Presence' within the work is psychological as well as visual. The use of a smartphone both as a camera and through its main purpose as a communication device play an integral role in this body of work. All works were drawn to scale directly from the phone screen to the paper. The connection with the outside world, specifically conversations with one person in particular re–enforce this intimate aspect and that absence during the residency. The two ideas link through technology and paradoxically the skill of draughtsmanship – capturing a very specific time and place.