project no.8: misc. drawings
A large part of these miscellaneous drawings is comprised of sketches - in pencil and some charcoal - of coffee. This series includes not only the origin narrative of coffee, but also tries to convey how it feels to make and convivially consume the drink. These drawings seek to examine the relationship between individuals and communities with coffee, while also confronting the reality of its growth and the coffee bean’s history as a crop harvested largely by slaves.
The next series of drawings presented in this section is a compilation of pepper drawings: sketches in pencil of a rotting bell pepper drawn throughout the process of its decay. These peppers and their deterioration are part of an exploration into how the life span of any perishable object leads to change and development, from the growth of mold to the movement and scattering of the bell pepper seeds. These vibrant and varying pepper drawings lead the viewer to ask themselves about both existence and the finite nature of life and also about food waste. To waste food in the pursuit of an artistic venture, especially on a class-wide scale, is surely a moral net bad. How can one passively observe the rotting of a perfectly edible food object for the sake of aesthetic investigation while remaining ethical? While this is an isolated scenario, the imagery of rotting food puts into mind the conscious waste of so many corporations, restaurants, etc.
The next portion of drawings is an examination of the Yale Center of British Art and the Yale Art Gallery, all drawings in which are made fully from observation and without the use of rulers or erasers. They explore perspective, section, and detail drawings; some are contours, and the one above is specifically a blind contour of the YCBA foyer. This selection of images is mostly bound by location/subject, and more loosely is held together by the conception of loose, careful strokes in the pursuit of not a perfect picture, but a picture that portrays the feeling and moment of a space. They endeavor to build a mood for the viewer, to recreate what it is and how it feels to occupy these architecturally significant places.
Altogether, these drawings provide a comprehensive summary of my abilities as an artist, and the wide variability of experience I hold with the medium of pencil hand drawing.
Pencil or charcoal on paper.