String drawing number 6, loop with knott, 2012
Graphite and colored pencil on paper
7 inches x 6 inches

My recent drawings of yarn and butchers string emerged from a series of still lives documenting objects in my studio over the summer.

I am interested in using the string as a physical “line drawing” in space, lain out on the table by hand. Arriving at the compositions is an exploration of form, simplicity and instinct. I render the yarn and string at life scale using graphite and colored pencil, slowing my attention, studying, looking at the object before me.

I participated in the Gowanus Open Studio tour this year. It was a last show of new work before I returned to Northern California. A great weekend, filled with conversation.

Vija Celmins, Night Sky No. 22, 2001 - Charcoal on Paper 18 3/4 x 22 inches

“What if we understood mimesis not so much in terms of representation, but, as Adorno suggests in his Aesthetic Theory, literally as a form of imitation, of mimicking, of doing impressions of nature? To draw a mountain is to mimic it, and, as a form of mimicry, a magical form of becoming.

Mimesis, as a magical practice, is a question of technique: of molding your vowels, modulating the lines you draw or paint, adapting movements, as a means of activating the sympathetic relationship between you and what’s out there.”

– The Banff Center

Josh sleeping, study number 5, Lindsey Muscato, graphite on paper, 2011

“For as long as man has painted, he (and it usually is a he) has painted his lovers. Look at any of the great works of Western art and, chances are, you will find a mistress, girlfriend, wife or prostitute centre stage.”  — Kathryn Hughes