Drawing Discussion with Eric Butcher & Eleanor Wood

Join us for this online Drawing Discussion, where we will hear from two artists - Eric Butcher and Eleanor Wood - about their drawings included in the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2025 exhibition as part of the daily drawing programme accompanying the exhibition. The discussion will be convened by Anita Taylor, and there will be a Q&A session with the audience.

Eric Butcher's drawing, T/R. 1058, 2025, is made of recycled drawing fragments: graphite + acrylic gel on glass, 109 x 86cm. "T/R. 1058 is made entirely by destroying my own previous work. It is the result of a process of investigation into my own studio practice, an attempt at its systematic deconstruction and a response to profound environmental anxiety. Confronted by the overwhelming environmental problems facing the world my former studio practice seemed vain, selfish and indulgent. What is it that my work consisted in but taking precious resources and turning them in to useless objects?"

Eleanor Wood has two drawings selected for the exhibition: Dust Jacket Series 2, 2024, oil & wax on acrylic and mending tissue with acetate and digital print, 34 x 46cm; and Dust Jacket Series 3, 2024, oil & wax on acrylic and mending tissue with acetate and digital print, 34 x 46cm. "The title, Dust Jacket, refers to the detachable paper sleeves that traditionally protected hardcover books. The drawings began by examining the insides of various such sleeves – a normally hidden surface that faces the book itself – from the Ladybird Books for Children series, published in 1956 by Wills & Hepworth Ltd, in Loughborough, England. The books are my own and have sentimental value. The dust jackets display signs of wear and tear from being read and moved around over a period of many decades, and their imperfections, blemishes, stains and yellowing all engage me as they allude to the past."

Eric Butcher studied BA Philosophy at Cambridge University (1990-94), MA Painting at Wimbledon School of Art, UAL (2000-01), and PGCE at the Institute of Education, UCL (2001-02). Solo exhibitions include: Shadow Archive, GPS Gallery, London (2025); An End Always has a Start, Saturation Point, London (2022); Sweet Heresy, Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London (2020); Artificial Light, Nancy Toomey Fine Art, San Francisco (2018); A Synthetic Kind of Love, Galerie Robert Drees, Hanover, Germany (2013). Group exhibitions include: Taking Time, The Cut, Halesworth (2024); A Territory of Oneself, Zembla Gallery, Hawick, Scotland (2023); Die Wat Spaart, Die Wat Heeft, Galerie Robert Drees, Hanover, (2023); Perpetual Arrival, Platform A Gallery, Middlesbrough (2023); Accrochage, Galerie Robert Drees, Hanover, Germany (2022). Awards include: Arts Council, England (2013); Artist in Residence, Benson-Sedgewick Engineering, London (2010); Research Fellowship, Arts Institute at Bournemouth (2007); Multiple Perspectives Fellowship, Centre for Art International Research/Liverpool School of Art (2007). He lives and works in Oxfordshire in the UK.

Eleanor Wood studied BA Fine Art at Winchester School of Art (1974–77) and MA Painting at Chelsea School of Art (1979–80). Selected exhibitions include: Process, Paul Kuhn Gallery, Calgary, Canada (2021); Liquid Light: Painting in Watercolour, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne (2022); Small Works, Strata Gallery, Santa Fe, NM (2023); Perpetual Arrival, Platform A Gallery, Middlesborough (2023); H.A.R.D.P.A.P.E.R, Phoenix Art Space, Brighton (2024); Debut: Inaugural Open, &Gallery, Edinburgh (2024); Taking Time, The Cut, Halesworth (2024); A Shared Return, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA (2024); Postcards for Seyoisfjorour, Iceland (2025); Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, London (2025). She lives and works in North Norfolk in the UK.

Anita Taylor is an artist, curator and educator, and is founding director of the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize project and Drawing Projects UK. she is currently Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design at the Univeirsty of Dundee.

This online Drawing Discussions are devised by Drawing Projects UK in association with the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2025. There will be further Drawing Discussions throughout the exhibition and tour. There is a fully illustrated exhibition publication, an education pack, and a daily programme of events accompaying the exhibition whihc is on show at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London E14 0JW, from 9-19 October 2025 before touring.

The event will start promptly at 6pm. We look forward to seeing you!

Images: L: Eric Butcher, T/R. 1058, 2025; R: Eleanor Wood, Dust Jacket Series 3, 2024