Marcus Piper returns to Useful Objects with an exhibition of new and recent works which explore the expanded field of drawing and mark-making through experimentation with objects, light and music.

OPTIC 01: Drawing Parallels comprises a table and wall-based mirrors which reflect light to bring depth to Piper’s drawings, along with a suite of analogue dark-room photogram prints, created by refracting light through a set of transparent sculptures. 

As a counterpoint, a triptych of layered works employs a multi-step experimental process, with the artist performing music, which triggers movement in a digital animation of his drawings, stills of which are printed onto glass and mirror.

A sculptural coffee table presents a drawing suspended within it, with internal mirrors creating depth that changes the configuration of the drawing as the viewer moves around it.

Three wall mirrors reflect the audience and the surrounding room, incorporating the view into drawings printed onto each mirror’s glass surface. The environment becomes part of each work and subtle changes mean the experience of the drawing is always shifting, never the same twice. These works turn the passive spectator into a composer of the drawing and participant in the creation and experience of the work. 

Piper likens this experiential approach to the performative and analogue way that the hand moves in both drawing and guitar-playing, activities which have formed the basis of the works in the exhibition.

Limiting the palette of all the works to black and white, Piper invites us to either read the group of works together or as individual universes of line, texture and form. They bring together all the facets of practice as a Digital Craftsperson, including photography, digital and analogue printing, industrial design, and drawing and layout techniques learned over years of publication design.

Portrait: Nic Walker © 2025.
Exhibition images: Shannon McGrath © 2025.