Selected Drawings

Drips of coffee freely weave through empty landscapes like rivers without heads. It is meditative to draw in the morning while sipping my first cup. The stains slowly transform into an unforeseen web of interconnectedness. This intuitive play of indeterminacy and improvisation initiated the start of this drawing project.

I started this mixed-media abstract drawing project in 2006. I created my work using coffee, pencils, color inks, and breath-blowing. Beginning in 2020, I continued the idea but stopped using coffee as my primary material. Bare winter tree branches inspire my drawings, as do Chinese Splash Ink Paintings and artists like John Cage, William Anastasi, Cy Twombly, Julie Mehretu, and experimental/ improvisational music. The lines in my works are organic, fluid and uncertain, dancing in the space of in-betweenness, indeterminacy and consciousness heightened by marks of improvisation. I use colors, especially red and brown. The conscious self loses in the creative process guided by intuition and feelings, bringing incredible foresight beyond preconceived notions and sometimes words. It innately mirrors the uncertain nature of our everyday reality upon the reliance on interdependent elements, reflections, and perceptions to arrive at a work's completion. Words are limited; media are interconnected. The underlying of my work derives from everyday human experiences and emotions, social realities and their complexity. The sizes of my drawings are 8"x8", 12"x9", 9"x12", 18"x24", and 30"x22". My other project, Moving Drawing, connects drawing, video and sound. I am currently working on 22"x30" drawings.

NC8x8 Drawing #31, July 3, 2024, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #32, July 4, 2024, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #33, July 8, 2024, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #30, January 19, 2024, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #29, January 12, 2024, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #28, January 10, 2024, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #27, November 29, 2023, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #26, November 20, 2023, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #25, October 26, 2023, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #24, October 13, 2023, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #23, August 30, 2023, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #22, August 29, 2023, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #21, August 17, 2023, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #18, August 14, 2023, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

2023 8"x8" Drawing #S1, Music by Steve Roden "VIEW" album

Track 4 "Untitled", Duration: 16:28

Had some fun with these two synesthetic drawings –

the first time listening, the same duration.

2023 8"x8" Drawing #S2, Music by Steve Roden "VIEW" album

Track 1 "Untitled", Duration: 16:04

NC8x8 Drawing #17, February 25, 2023, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #16, February 15, 2023, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #14, March 28, 2022, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #13, March 11, 2022, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #12, March 1, 2022, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 Drawing #11, Feb 2, 2022, 8"x8", pencil and color ink

NC8x8 drawing #5, #6, and #7 and the Moving Drawing #1 video below, are together an interdisciplinary project. It involves two stages and a video recording. The drawing movements in the video were handheld cellphone recordings while listening to Hilary Hahn's 1997 J.S. Bach's Chaconne for solo violin performance. The 2nd part of the project was to divide that drawing into three 8 "x 8" pieces and finish them as the #5, #6, and #7 NC8x8 drawings, as seen separately. The form of each drawing dances between randomness and consciousness, heightened by marks of improvisation. The creative process mirrors the unpredictable nature of our daily life upon the reliance on interdependent elements and trusts to arrive at a work's completion.

Moving Drawing #1 was created for J.S. Bach's Chaconne for Solo Violin for the 2021 CreArt Web Music Festival.
https://vimeo.com/607672772