In March of 2020 I began working with the materials I had on hand, exploring new ways of mark-making to create drawings in response to a multitude of current events. I changed my drawing practice. At present I have over a hundred pieces. Each drawing's title references the date it was made as well, occasionally, as an additional descriptive phrase or word. The backgrounds are painted red, or, in rare instances, blue and I use a limited assortment of graphite pencils and drawing sticks to make them, intentionally exploring how much can be done with scarce resources. I never use an eraser.

 

The series is titled what happens when you go inside: a selection of pandemic drawings and the works address anxiety, healing, and upheaval. For a while I rarely went out and the images are as much the product of my imagination as of observed reality. Clipped prints of human hair, for instance, function as surrogates for missing friends, while other drawings are purely abstract. I've learned a lot from making them, including the constant reminder that it is more important to be whole than perfect. You can't unmake marks and the only way forward with a drawing is to keep going.