Lisa Congdon - Artist Research

'My Nordic Adventure' is a project by Lisa Congdon about her travels around Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. This is a kind of reportage project where she has drawn collections of things that have caught her interest on her travels including architecture, packaging, textiles, furniture and signage, etc. 

Although this isn't the kind of project I am doing, reading through Lisa Condon's blog of her travels and looking at her drawings has emphasised my appreciation of Scandinavian design. I like how the design ethos of Scandinavia is reflected in almost all of its visual output whether this is architecture, textiles or food packaging. The signage in her drawings is all quite graphic and simple. 'Lots of Helvetica' sums it up really. 

I think the textures that have been applied to Congdon's drawings through her drawing and painting process has emphasised the 'homely-ness', it feels a lot more personal and involved than a photograph of the same subject might appear. This is something to consider in my own work when considering what the underlying message of the piece is about - is the focus on the feeling or the design?