May 4, 2021 - ongoing
I began making these charcoal drawings sometime in May of 2021. They were created as a response to the on and off again relationship with oil paint. I wanted to be able to use a medium, that quite frankly, I didn’t care as much for. I wanted a medium that that would be forgiving and was easy to handle, where I could focus on making an image and less about the technical aspects behind it.
The first few drawings were part of my midnight art practice. I would go into the studio late into the night, at a time where my mind would be more open and I could get lost in the work. I worked with the lights off and a soft spotlight illuminating the work area. At times I would use music as a tool of transportation. The music I played was usually in the form of some non lyrical new age instrumental sound, a particular favorite being a Family Style Radio mix from Meilgaarden titled “Sound Gymnastics” but occasionally I would play the albums: “Jeanette: 20 Éxitos Originales” or “Historias De Amor” by Los Angeles Negros, Los Terricolas & Los Pasteles Verdes.
When I first started making these I would talk about them as sketches, but the reality was that I was very fond of these drawings. These drawings held an essence of myself that felt fluid, guided. I knew these pieces were not sketches, they were drawings and they were the best work to come from the studio up until this point. These drawings also did something for me oil could not do at the time, they took me to a flow. Charcoal took me out of my head, the medium provided the most direct path of articulating the visions. I took up a relationship with charcoal, seeing it as a fellow collaborator.
You can view the entier collecion at full scale here. :)
