William MapanIntimacy

Mapan is known for his distinctive flair, and his works in these series deliberately distance themselves from compositions with polished finishes. Rendered purely through code prompts, they explore the imperfections of seemingly arbitrary sketches, comprising lush and playful representations of primary paint materials. In these series, Mapan purposefully creates an organic aesthetic suggestive of analogue methods. As a nostalgic ode to childhood’s untainted creativity, the works’ textures suggest the use of mediums such as crayons, felt-tip markers, and coloured pencils. The intention to recreate the effects reminiscent of paint, to channel the tactile – the subtle smudges, the soft brushstrokes, and the hushed nuances – is an endeavour that underlines his commitment to infusing the digital with an almost tangible materiality.

Please join the artists and Verse for the IRL reception evening and in conversation with the curators Melanie Lenz (Digital Curator at V&A) and Tamar Clarke-Brown (Curator at the Serpentine Galleries) on 3 Oct, 2023.

Sketchbook A is a series of what appear to be scrawled childlike sketches, created with coloured pencils. Upon closer inspection, the works are anything but childlike, and anything but scrawled. The hard edges of the colours are the work of a computer, and are mimicking the texture of crayons. William’s code creates these textures from colour, replicating tangible 3D materiality on a 2D digital canvas. The resulting images are nostalgic tributes to the unrestrained creativity of childhood, and masterfully distance themselves from the polished aesthetics most commonly associated with digital art.

There is evidently a parallel to the artistic legacy of Matisse in this recent series. The echoes of Matisse's pioneering spirit and bold forms resonate with Mapan's hard edged compositions. It is also felt in the interplay between contrasting colours and cut out shapes and within the whimsical drawings.

William’s second series, Through Your Eyes, continues to create organic aesthetics suggestive of analogue methods, imitating the appearance of materials such as coloured pens and highlighters. However, embedded within these works is also an invitation for the observer to witness shapes emerging from the sketches. They draw on the innate human tendency to find recognisable forms within inherently abstract images. This attempt to engage, to discover and explore, mirrors the very nature of artistic inquiry itself – a journey where personal narratives intertwine with abstract realms.

With these series, William Mapan offers a special perspective on the dichotomy between the digital and tactile. He is committed to creative coding as well as painting en plein air, sketching daily, and essentially losing himself in the process of ‘making’ no matter what the medium. His works ripple with the resonance of childhood's creativity, a pure form of artistry that is uninhibited and not self-conscious, and their execution reminds us of what a skillful coder Mapan is to be able to capture the transient spirit and energy of early creation that we spend a lifetime chasing.