Drawings

5. Carbon (graphite on papaer 44_ x 38_) copy

Carbon (graphite on paper 44″ x 38″)

I grew up where vast hurricanes came onto the land, and I always questioned where these storms came from. Awareness of the natural world and our relationship with the cosmos has remained important to me.

Drawing is a strong force. Its lines express what cannot be put forward in other media. Although I have been known for sculpture and painting, my study of elements in space since 1993 has led to drawing them on large paper, or on kaolin-canvas-covered wooden panels and on large walls as installations.

I began to be interested in the element Carbon as I thought about its ability to be in the sun, in the atmosphere and necessary for all life on earth. Eventually, drawings have come to include linear renderings of elements basic to a supernova, the explosion of a star. When expelled into space, elements most likely never sit still, but are in constant motion. These same elements are found on earth.

Of the eight drawings, the first six are drawn with graphite pencil on paper. The last two are triptychs. Before drawing with graphite pencil on their surfaces, each triptych wooden panel is covered in canvas then coated with a mixture of kaolin clay and hide glue. In 1987 after developing this combination, I read that Tibetan paintings had been made by this method for 2000 years. Gloria Graham