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Charcoal Studies of Classical Paintings and Sculpture
Drawing is at once a spontaneous and a premeditated act that serves as a basic tool for observing visual reality. The process of rendering allows me to transform reality into abstract form and then order the abstract form into an image.
My drawings are inspired by the expressiveness of the human figure. The architecture of the figure provides an endless supply of visual possibilities. The subtleties of this structure as well as the broader aspects of movement and emotion all lend themselves to these possibilities. These drawings are all done with charcoal on craft paper.
The Western classical involvement with the figure (from Renaissance through the twentieth century) confronts us with the human-ness of the figure. When I approach the African figure with this classical attitude, it is an attempt to present the essential human quality of the African. When I appropriate a European figure from the Sistine Chapel ceiling and transform it into an African, the intention is to present the expression as one that is common to both cultures. An African mother feels compassion for her children; an African father feels pride for his son.
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