Doug McNamara

Living Spiral#

Artist’s Statement#

This piece is an overlay of several acetate drawings created to be reshuffled, rotated, and stacked to create different image combinations. Each drawing uses micron pen on the front surface and watercolor paint on the back. Stacking the acetate sheets allows each drawing layer to create shadows on the sheet below it and add some depth (a technique I’ve used with different materials).

The content of the drawing is inspired by a decade working in science labs, followed by a decade of mimicking textbook diagram and nature plate drawings. I like “stretching the truth” with scientific drawings, and using elements of different plants and animals without focusing on accuracy. This leads to (in this drawing) an extremely long nematode-like spiral over a sort of algae scaffolding.

About the Artist#

Doug McNamara is an artist and pamphleteer living in Brooklyn with writer Amy McNamara. His drawings have appeared in Esopus, Conduit, Meatpaper, jubilat, Weird Illustrated, the Society of Nematologists newsletter, and NYC subway seats.