FINLAY CUMMINS

For Finlay Cummins

“A large part of my practice right now revolves around marking the body particularly that of close friends.

Drawings I do on others body are a sub conscious interpretation of that person's character and personality and I work with them in a very intimate and personal way that can often become very ritual like in its nature. The markings I do on myself revolve around telling a story of myself outwardly to others but also to myself as reminders of ideas or states of mind. I have begun to make these marks permanent on myself with tattoos and plan to have more done for example the line down my spine which is representative to me as the beginning and birth is something I’m trying to get done at the moment.

This theme of rituals and routines is something that runs through my practice and life particularly in the items and rituals I have in the items that I carry around with myself. The items are very sentimental to me and will represent elements or periods of my life which I take value in remembering but there are also practical items that I carry such as the pens and wallet which in their own way have learnt their own sentimental value through my reliance on them.

A piece I am working on currently is a sticker project around Falmouth. The symbols written on the stickers are anonymous in their creation and thought process and their meaning is something that I don’t understand as they are solely influenced by context in my life and putting them up taps into a very primal urge to speak and be heard even if you don’t know what you’re saying.“