AWS Galery Team

In this conversation, London-based artist Lea Rose Kara discusses the instinctive, elemental processes behind her new series of charcoal drawings — works that explore gesture, breath, and the enduring memory of stone. Blending material sensitivity with deep research into geology and ritual, Rose Kara captures moments of movement and meditation in striking monochrome.

Her works are now available through AWS, offering collectors the opportunity to acquire distinctive, museum-quality pieces at accessible prices.

Photograph provided by Artist Lea Rose Kara

You use English Willow Charcoal to create your new drawings - what drew you to that material?
LRK: “As someone who was first trained in drawing, before discovering and choosing to specialise in sculpture, I have always been drawn to working in monochrome, be it pencil or charcoal. Working in black and white is quite striking and powerful, but also more complex because the filled-in space is just as important as the empty white space; it is the harmony or tension between the two that helps evoke a certain emotion in the viewer. Charcoal has a softness to it, a ‘smudginess’ that allows a blurring between the harsh black and white forms, and its instant mark-making quality provides for a more raw and arguably more authentic capture of gesture, as I am unable to remove any marks, only layer them to build up the final picture”.

2. These marks feel almost like movements caught in time - can you tell us how breath and gesture guide your process?

LRK: “I use rocks collected from the Jurassic Coast in East Devon, England, and with these, I create a variety of core marks on the paper through a series of intuitive movements, almost like a dance. I throw the rocks onto the paper in a series of gestures, which sometimes also captures the physicality of the stone by creating indentations in the paper (only observed when you come up close to see the paper’s surface). I then respond to these marks with my breath, as a way of moving the charcoal dust around the paper’s surface – layering the two approaches in my intimate and ‘in-the-moment’ encounter. This physical and very active way of drawing captures momentum and creates a seeming snapshot”.

3. How do these smaller works on paper connect to your larger wool sculptures?

LRK: “I have been interested in rocks over the last 2 years, as I conducted fieldwork exploring the rock art on both small and megalithic stone circle structures across the UK. This sparked a fascination with their intended meaning and purpose, as stone circles served as important sacred locations where ancestors and religious groups, such as the Druids, gathered to seek blessings, give thanks, connect with the divine, conduct funerary rites, and celebrate various ceremonies. Although little is known about the specific events that took place, it is this deep mystery and the loss of knowledge that inspire my sculptures and have seeped into my exploration of the individual history of stones in my new drawings”.

4. There’s such a calm, meditative quality in these drawings — what do you hope viewers feel when they encounter them?

LRK: “The selection of specific stones, such as hag stones and fossilised coral stones, was a very meditative process. I roamed the Jurassic Coast beach for three hours, turning over rocks and dipping my hands in freezing 'mermaid pools' in hopes of discovering the rocks inside. Exploring the different stones—formed over millions of years—was mind-blowing! Their geological origin, chemical composition, and historical formation differed from any other rocks I could have chosen elsewhere in the UK. Rocks play a crucial role in the life of Gaia; they have also acted as symbols throughout human history, particularly in the myths and tales of our ancient ancestors, and they contain secrets to our Earth’s past. I want viewers to feel this sense of wonder, excitement, and perhaps find a moment of reflection”.

5. “For someone thinking about collecting one of these works, what makes each piece unique or personal to you?

LRK: “I am at the very beginning of my drawing journey in reference to these rock series, and by collecting a piece, you can own a part of that story. On a personal level, these drawings mark a sense of pure creative freedom of direct expression that I craved after years of labour-intensive, months-long structured sculpture making. Each drawing represents a particular conversation that I’ve had with that unique stone, the way we ‘danced’ together, and how the stone chose to reveal to me its secrets that day. I look forward to where these new drawings will lead me as I capture my meditations through abstract charcoal formations”.

View Lea Rose Kara’s Artist Page here

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