Lot 28

Looking back at the figurative element in these drawings, Diana Thorneycroft is reminded of Hieronymous Bosch, and how the scrawny looking figures in his paintings are similar in appearance. She realizes that she too has subconsciously developed a drawing style: a vocabulary of forms, pattern and colours, as well as variations of human, animal and imaginary anatomical structures and gestures. Thematically, there are motifs that reoccur, such as mutant creatures with animal parts, hooves, tails and claws, penetrating tongues, tornadoes and complex root systems, scales, teeth and more tongues. For quite some time now, tongues have played a critical role in Thorneycroft’s work. She sees them (using a quote from the Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin), as the site where “the body goes outside to meet the world”. In her drawings, open mouths and articulated tongues allow for a multiplicity of meanings, ranging from vulnerability to protection and aggression. For example, the Consensual Transmission Fluid series revolves around the transfer of fluids via tongues, tubes or air borne droplets. As her drawings are representational, there is the chance a story is involved. Occasionally the narrative is obvious, but more frequently it’s implied, allowing the audience a greater role as interpreter. Composing titles for the work has become particularly enjoyable, as it’s an opportunity for Thorneycroft to nudge a reading in a certain direction and has become as playful as it is beguiling. Titles suggest she knew what she was going to draw before-hand, which is never the case.