THINKING THROUGH DRAWING: PRACTICE INTO KNOWLEDGE

THINKING THROUGH DRAWING: PRACTICE INTO KNOWLEDGE 115

Located on the border between figuration

and abstraction, my drawings resemble

rotten landscapes. Anthropomorphic bits

and pieces inhabit battlefields, sinking

ships and abandoned construction sites.

Collapse and decay are ever-present as a

myriad of supports try to prevent the slide

toward entropy: scaffolding, nails, bricks,

tape, boards and patches.

In this new group of improvisational work

on paper, the drawing materials are lim-

ited to black (and hints of silver) marker

on dark-hued paper. The depicted con-

flicts function as a metaphor for the bat-

tles inherent in my own creative process:

trying to make something from nothing,

intention from accident, illusion from flat-

ness and meaning from doubt.

Using invention as a sign for optimism, the

work turns celebratory. It’s a party room,

even if all the guests are scarred and ban-

daged.

Jane Fine

Drawing is a way of working out ideas. It
has an inherent quality of expedience and
clarity. When I draw I try not to think too
much. I almost always have talk or music
on in order to occupy the conscious part
of my brain. The idea of what to draw
and the broad outline of how to do it are
resolved before I begin. The most impor-
tant decisions however are made in each
moment of drawing and involve only the
small movements of a pencil or brush.
When things are going well, these deci-
sions are equal parts the exercise of some
mysterious muscle tick and the conscious
avoidance of repeating myself or the facile
cliches of other art.

James Esber

Jane Fine, Untitled, 19.5 “ x 25.5”, Ink on paper, 2011