Drawing Breath as Light #1
The images in this post show both the transparent paper and the paper used underneath a new light drawing. Although the second paper was not intended for anything other than support, I found the inconsistency that appeared in the second paper appealing in that it allows for very little light in some areas or no light at all. I realised you can change the tonal value of the drawing by varying the pressure of the pin holes. When I initially approached this type of drawing I had thought there could only be the light and the darker paper surface, I am happy to find that tonal variation is possible.
Each night I have been writing based on a suggestion by Carolyn (Research Advisor). The exercise involves writing for a set amount of time and then taking the most important idea/sentence out of that process and then write about that one idea for another set time frame. From one of these sessions I wrote the following about the above work:
The inconsistency in pressure...each breath a hole in the surface….no two breaths are identical. Sometimes we breathe deeply, often the breath is shallow... the variation in breath creates the way we respond to the world. In this drawing the long deep breath allows more light in, the shallow, barely there breath creates the shadows and darkness.
The following images show the same drawing on transparent drafting film. I researched medical CT scans of lung tissue, and for this particular piece I focused on the bronchial branches of the lungs.
The following exert was taken from my daily writing exercise:
Most drawings focus on the relationship between the surface and the drawn mark – the perception of space and the tension between the two. This drawing doesn’t do that. In this drawing, the reality of the world sits within the picture plane. There is no representation of reality... only reality sitting within the paper surface. Light as reality, the world behind the page drawn into the surface– when you move the drawing, then you allow a different reality in. This drawing responds to its environment. It holds reality without trying to trap it... it just holds it for a moment before letting it go and replacing it with something new...