I've been working on this drawing for the past semester - it's a glorified, obsessive, and meticulously drawn piece of lace - it was drawn on a roll of paper 3ft wide by 40ft long, using rapidographs and many sleepless nights (110 hours to be exact). I wanted to do a drawing to get away from finicky printmaking processes and also work larger as opposed to the small and intimate nature of books. After finishing the one side I've decided that the piece is still a work in progress - I'd like to flip it over and do (at least some) of the other side, so that when it's installed it can fold and flip over itself without having any blank areas. I'm also going to consider making a couple of other objects to accompany the drawing and give it some context - these objects will also be obtrusively large and glorified in the manner of Claus Oldenburg. My hope is that the finished piece can work as an installation in next semester's Works in Progress show. This is a look at what the drawing is doing and how it operates the space for right now - any suggestions would be happily accepted.
Here also is a look at the artist's statement that I wrote for this particular project:
Blankness makes us uneasy; when confronted with silence or an empty sheet of paper we feel the urge to fill it. For a few, this need to fill the silence a defining compulsion and my drawing is an exploration of that compulsion. To the observer, I’m sure that this drawing will be viewed as “obsessive,” especially since we live in a culture that glorifies the opposite of obsession – distraction.
My motivation to make art is often married to the desire to overcome anxiety. Inevitably, the process of drawing eventually dominates that motivation, and making marks on a page becomes so captivating, that the act of drawing is now the obsession. Once I start to draw, anxiety is lifted and relief arrives as a state of entrancement. Drawing becomes a necessity and my infatuation with line trumps everything.
What interests me is my inability to process everything I’m confronted with and the idea of the whole – understanding is usually achieved through repetition. This piece of work explores the material transformation of a piece of lace through focused, repetitive, and habitual behavior.
