'portraits of consumerism' started out with my urge to draw. to draw whenever possible. wherever possible. the only tool i need is a pen. scaps of paper can be found everywhere.
for example payment receipts. i never seem to run out of them. small pieces of paper of different sizes, various content and lengths. witnesses of my life as a consumer. these payment receipts tell part of my story. maybe more than i want.
the paper of these receipts is very smooth. thermal paper. it doesn't get printed on with ink. thermal paper gets imprinted with heat. over time, the letters and imprints will fade until the paper is plain white again. until the act of consumption is no longer visible. only the black lines of my pen will remain.
i keep searching. my black pen tracing some of the facts on these receipts. tracing, drawing, looking for myself. usually i draw my face. lines about wanting, about manipulation, about behaviour and awareness, about cause and effect, about my actions and my reaction. lots of little traces that add up to a bigger picture.