The Immortal Mortals (backdrop drawings) 2019-2021

These drawings were created as backdrops for the photographic series The Immortal Mortals. Made in dense black ink on paper, they evoke the earliest gestures of image-making: silhouettes, animals, and figures raising their arms as if in ritual or offering.

They are not illustrations of a narrative, but atmospheres — backdrops for presence. What feels ancient here is not imitation but instinct: the quiet need to make a mark, even when no one is watching.

Exhibited:

Love Between The Atoms. SAUVAGE, Düsseldorf, Germany 2021

stage backdrop

The Immortal Mortals - 111 Backdrop drawing

  • Pen and Indian ink
  • 70 x 50 cm
  • 2021
Mark Alexander's ink artwork: Young boy standing contemplatively in a textured cave.

The Immortal Mortals - Elephant Backdrop drawing

  • Pen and Indian Ink
  • 70 x 50 cm
  • 2021

The Immortal Mortals - VIII Backdrop drawing

  • Pen and indian ink on paper
  • 70 x 50 cm
  • 2021
Mark Alexander's pen and ink art: Deer sips from cave pool, faint outline of 'Creation of Adam' above.

The Immortal Mortals - I Backdrop drawing

  • Indian ink
  • 70 x 50 cm
  • 2020-1
Pen and ink drawing by Mark Alexander; ethereal figure with curly hair spreads arms amidst textured background.

The Immortal Mortals - iX Backdrop drawing

  • Indian ink
  • 70 x 50 cm
  • 2021
Mark Alexander pen and ink: Deer by water in cave, intricate grid shading with faint overhead figures.

The Immortal Mortals - XV Backdrop drawing

  • Pen and Indian Ink on Paper
  • 70 x 50 cm
  • 2021
Mark Alexander's ink sketch: Two giraffes amid patterned background with repeating handprints.

The Immortal Mortals - 1V Backdrop drawing

  • Indian Ink
  • 70 x 50 cm
  • 2020
Mark Alexander's ink drawing: Horse nestled within textured cave, intricate shading and detail.

The Immortal Mortals - VII Backdrop drawing

  • Pen and Indian ink on paper
  • 70 x 50 cm
  • 2021
Mark Alexander's pen and ink art: supine figure in a cave with wavy patterns and a sketched old radio above.

The Immortal Mortals - II Backdrop drawing

  • Indian ink
  • 50 x 70 cm
  • 2021
Pen and ink art by Mark Alexander; abstract horses on a textured grid backdrop with subtle shading.

The Immortal Mortals -V1111 Backdrop drawing

  • Indian ink
  • 70 x 50 cm
  • 2020
Mark Alexander's artwork: Elderly knight in shadows of a cave, narrowly missed by a beam of light.

The Immortal Mortals - Backdrop drawing

  • Pen and Indian ink
  • 70 x 50 cm
  • 2020

The Immortal Mortals -X Backdrop drawing

  • Indian ink
  • 50 x 70 cm
  • 2021
Mark Alexander's pen and ink drawing: Buff figure pushes against cave wall, sunlight beams to his left.

The Immortal Mortals -X11. Backdrop drawing

  • Pen and Indian Ink
  • 70 x 50 cm
  • 2021

The Immortal Mortals - X Backdrop drawing

  • Pen and Indian Ink
  • 70 x 50 cm
  • 2021

The Immortal Mortals -V1 Backdrop drawing

  • Pen and Indian ink
  • 70 x 50 cm
  • 2021

The Immortal Mortals - IX. Backdrop drawing

  • Pen and Indian Indian Ink
  • 70 x 50 cm
  • 2021

The Immortal Mortals - 111. Backdrop drawing

  • Indian Ink
  • 70 x 50 cm
  • 2021

The Immortal Mortals - - XII Backdrop drawing

  • Pen and Indian ink on paper
  • 63 x 36 cm
  • 2021
Mark Alexander's pen and ink depiction: Unearthly, shadowy figure sketches on a cave wall.

The Immortal Mortals - VV Backdrop drawing

  • Indian ink
  • 50 x 70 cm
  • 2023
Pen and ink by Mark Alexander: Elephant with flower in trunk leans over cave edge, reaching for sketched mouse.

The Immortal Mortals - lV Backdrop drawing

  • Pen and Indian ink
  • 70 x 50 cm
  • 2020