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DRAWN

During a three-week artist residency at MASS MoCA in October 2018, I made 20 drawings on handmade paper from Twinrocker. In preparation for the residency, I chose small papers that would fit safely in my carry-on suitcase and packed art materials in a cardboard box. Paul, Emma Ming, and I flew to Albany, New York and then drove in a rental car to North Adams. Together we saw as much of MASS MoCA as we could in three days and when they flew back to Atlanta, I moved into my studio and apartment to begin my residency. At that time, I had no idea that I would make an installation of drawings and sound; but, thankfully, Paul, who never travels without his recording equipment, collected sound on the trip. What began as a materials and transportation challenge ultimately set-up a framework in which I worked for the next two years.

DRAWN is an installation of 100+ drawings and objects, made from October 2018 through September 2020, during residencies at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts; Moulin à Nef, VCCA-France in Auvillar, France; The Hambidge Center; as well as in my Atlanta studio, before and during the pandemic. Paul Kayhart recorded sound in each of these locations; viewers can initiate listening to his composition loop.

My immediate surroundings, as well as the uncertainty unfolding outside of the security of each place, influenced my approach to the drawings. All are made on handmade papers, approximately the same size, easily transportable for traveling to the residencies. For consistency, I used watercolors, inks, graphite, and gesso in all locations but gathered site-specific materials (eggshells, human hair, chicken wishbones, studio fragments) incorporating them in the drawings and installation. The drawings are repositories for color and mood, visual journals of my time in each place, each studio, each new living situation with artists I did not know, as well as living in virtual isolation with my family.