Impact and Impression
In this work, I am communicating through materials that are forever altered through force and impact. The drawings that contain architectural elements are intentionally nonspecific with regard to location and time period. The spaces are interrupted with dimensional planes, suggesting that the viewer can only catch a glimpse of a place; that time has passed and landmarks can change before being fully processed. The paper is care-worn, forever altered by mark-making, staining, and by the folding and creasing of the surface. This process lends a sculptural presence and further breaking of the two-dimensional plane. Some of the drawings are on plywood panels which impacted by gunshots, a tool chosen for the sudden and unalterable force that shooting inflicts upon the material. The splintering of the layers of a material that was originally manufactured for construction further emphasizes the impact of one moment or one life upon another. Taking the idea a step further, I abandon drawing on some of the panels and rely only on the force of the ammunition for creating marks. Through charcoal rubbings of the bullet holes and the surrounding layers of wood, the paper becomes merely an impression of the event; remotely involved, but removed from the impact, like an eyewitness. With a printing press, I create an embossed impression, further separating the result from the event, like a second-hand account or memory. I emphasize presence in absence and the passage of time through application and erasure of pastel and charcoal. These images find a new existence as a means of recording memory and communicating evidence of a time forever passed.
