Catherine Thomson

Catherine Thomson. My work explores memory, absence, and the body through collecting, installation, and practice-led drawing research strategies. It is centred on the practice of rubbing traces of found objects using graphite onto used bed sheets. I consider the implications that processes of erasure and reinscribing might have within a drawing as an active and archival site of trace memories.

This sheet drawing began in December 2024 in Earl's Court (London) using ornaments and a bedsheet sourced from the local Oxfam shop. I continued to work on the drawing as I travelled around the UK for a month, adding an ornament to the growing collection from each place I visited, ending up in Glasgow, Scotland. Once back in Tāmaki Makaurau, I continued to work on the drawing using ornaments collected from local op shops and garage sales. I have washed the work at regular points during the process, erasing about half of the drawing traces before starting a new layer.