Fiona Carswell

In nature, dormancy is a self-preservation method closely associated with environmental conditions. Organisms enter dormancy either as a result of predicting adverse conditions or as a reaction to existing adverse conditions.

The Dormancy Project is an ongoing series of pencil drawings where I am envisioning the capability of individuals to enter into a suspended state of dormancy for survival — where they are not active or growing, but still have the capacity to become active later.

The series shows individuals alone and suspended, womb-like, in similar restful postures that suggest a shared primitive instinct. The physical act of returning to the traditional art of drawing after a hiatus suggests my own awakening from a type of artistic dormancy.