Andrea Cotton

Profile/CV

My main areas of interest lie within the processes of doodling and the necessity of counting. My work is presented using many different approaches and it is necessarily laborious as I find that paying great attention to detail is an important part of my expression. Everything I create is accurate even when taken out of context.   

Recent work has been based on the translation of the extreme monotony and ennui of prison life (witnessed as a teacher within an institution) into pieces of artwork that raise questions and demand a new look at what exactly goes on in such places.  Utilising the obsessive traits of my art in drawing and pencil strokes I produce the apparently inane labels and instructions which are actually taken from existing material in the institution. I offer a completely personal interpretation of prison life, the only reference being myself. Everything and everyone is constantly being counted; obsession becomes a form of control and survival is everything. Rather than being voyeuristic, my work becomes instead a manifestation of the scenes I witness daily.

Overall my work is about obsession, particularly when born out of boredom or institutionalisation, and the processes in which such circumstances arise.

Website www.andreacotton.com