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In Maori culture ‘mana’ is the word given to someone or something resonating with a sacred or noble power. It is widely used across Melanesia but such is its potency as a word for an object or person commanding great respect that it has entered the popular imagination. Russell Craig titled his exhibition of recent drawings with this word and links it to imagery inspired by residences he has undertaken in Japan, Thailand and France. Coincidentally, these countries all have strong traditions in printmaking, a field that the artist has, along with his drawing, been most closely linked. In fact, Craig is a product of the venerable Tamarind Lithography workshop in the United States, although he has for many years taught in the Queensland College of Art’s print department.
Craig’s eighteen large-scale conté crayon drawings displayed at the Powerhouse take advantage of the original concrete walls (some with graffiti) and are not confined to one floor level or display space. Black markings on a white base, Craig’s meticulously worked images show the presence of weathered stone monuments, shrines, simple ceramic pots, remote dwellings and river craft. There is a sense of ancient Greece in conversation with South East Asia, and a personal and respectful engagement with the natural environment. Several of the works are torn into shapes of a male torso (referring to the artist himself) but rather than being a literal representation they are divided into two realms that equate with earth and sky within which an accumulation of fragmented shapes are randomly deployed. Others are given the shape of a stone tablet, Close to Water for instance, where a white and black jar are featured below with stones