Daniel Webb
Expired ink on Khadi rag series
35 x 70 cm each
Expired ink on Khadi rag
35cm x 70cm
My artwork explores the myth of the cowboy. The series of three mixed-media artworks depict a lone ranger trying to find his place. The cowboy archetype persists and evolves throughout history; my work specifically complicates the heroic lone ranger of Hollywood Westerns, questioning masculinity. The meaning of the Hollywood cowboy changed throughout time, from a heroic gunslinger to a man out of time, but always established that the hero’s metaphysical condition is the centre of their sense of self.
Here, the cowboy has outlived his symbolic nature. He meanders through a dreamlike terrain, enhanced by the diluted wash of expired ink. The landscapes are formed from collaged fragments of geographic photography and filmic dunes from Western films, creating an imagined world. The figure on a horse remains as a silhouette, being stripped of detail and definition. He now acts as a blank archetype, devoid of individuality, as opposed to a hero. This allows the viewer to either view or inhabit, acknowledge or sympathise with this figure. The drawings are made using expired ink on Khadi rag, which emphasises the materiality of the image. The coarse texture creates a ‘weather-beaten’ aesthetic, which alludes to the worn-down and aged nature of the archetype.
Here, the cowboy has outlived his symbolic nature. He meanders through a dreamlike terrain, enhanced by the diluted wash of expired ink. The landscapes are formed from collaged fragments of geographic photography and filmic dunes from Western films, creating an imagined world. The figure on a horse remains as a silhouette, being stripped of detail and definition. He now acts as a blank archetype, devoid of individuality, as opposed to a hero. This allows the viewer to either view or inhabit, acknowledge or sympathise with this figure. The drawings are made using expired ink on Khadi rag, which emphasises the materiality of the image. The coarse texture creates a ‘weather-beaten’ aesthetic, which alludes to the worn-down and aged nature of the archetype.