The 'Drawing Wall' was part of 'Drawing Out" at the Bonington Gallery, Nottingham. An open submission of work from staff at Nottingham Trent University.

All staff in the school of Art and Design, from the Dean to technicians, receptionists, professors, lectures and visiting artists, were invited to submit a 'drawing' to this inclusive 'survey'.

170 works made up the 'Drawing Wall' which was part of a curated exhibition at the Bonington and 1851 galleries. "Drawing Out includes selected works using painting, computer animation, sculpture, kinetic construction, ceramics, video projection and text - all exploring the variety of interpretations of, and uses for, drawing.

When I was a child I used to draw all the time. People told me I was 'good' and should be an artist. The things I drew looked like the things I saw - they were accurate reproductions. A record of an observation. The more accurate they were the more 'impressive' people found them and the less interesting they were for me.

Today drawing is much more about working through an idea, navigating a thought, planning something, placement - a precursor to making. Something beyond a subconscious doodle and not quite accurate enough to 'be anything'.

"Almost Nine" is a collection of bounded surfaces - edges separating one visual space from another. Just like the much larger 'Drawing Wall' itself, multiple elements are placed next to each other. The only specification for submitting a drawing for the wall was that it should occupy a 30 x 30 cm piece of paper. All the same but all very different once they had been drawn on.

The 9 rectangles anticipated the layout of the 'Drawing Wall" with the content of the last drawn boundary removed - cut away to reveal the space beneath. That space fascinates me.

Andrew Pepper. April 2008