graphite, pigment, and ink on paper

70” x 35”

 

Recently, I invited five artists to work with me on a single large drawing, which was executed collaboratively and in public across three days. We were able to combine our efforts by externalizing our process and negotiating each step from beginning to end. This made me extremely aware of the many rapid decisions that usually go unnoticed while working alone.

 

Decision-making can be very challenging for me. When tangled up in the possibilities offered by many choices, I often become overwhelmed. After seeing how we moved toward consensus as a group, one decision at a time, I wanted to bring this new awareness back to the studio. Can I simply make decisions and follow them to a conclusion?

 

This drawing, Strangely Familiar, grows from those efforts. Here, I layer a handful of marks: rubbed and erased graphite, inked lines and stamped dots. Each mark alone is insignificant, but when combined and repeated hundreds and thousands of times, grows into a dreamscape that could be viewed from an airplane, a starship, or a microscope.

 

Denise Driscoll