"Testament-a sequence of drawings to be read as a book"
An ongoing book project begun in summer of 2021. It is currently comprised of 116 separate drawings, housed in custom made boxes.

All drawings are 19" x 26", mixed media on paper.

back

I began this work with a vague intention of it being a book, like books I have made in the past: a limited group of pages/drawings that evolve like a stream of consciousness movie. After the first few drawings I felt I was on a longer journey. It has become a kind of rolling testament to the course I have followed in my art over the years. I envision this sequence of drawings to be read as a book as an endless summing-up, a reflection on the images I have made, how and why they are what they are. And specifically: why has my predilection been towards figures of defeat and failure, strugglers and stragglers? I am not working towards an answer - this question is an oar I use to propel the boat forward and forward.

A larger question I had as I began pertained to the uses of art, my own art, and art in general today, which at times seems burdened with purposelessness. I realize that this may be only my problem, my uneasiness and dissatisfaction. Still, this dissatisfaction is one of the work’s unanswered questions.

In this sequence each drawing arises from the previous drawing like the abrupt and ambiguous scenes that one might see in a dream. Some of the images have been inspired by paintings and drawings I have made in the past, but most appear unbidden in the act of drawing. Excerpts from journals show the life that gave rise to the imagery. But much of the writing arises in the act of making the drawing - a way of working I have practiced for a long time.

I think of this work as a bookscape - an endless book - of figures and places without end… (until that unknown time when it must).

April 2023

Scroll down to view a selection of pages.