Ynotartblog's Blog

I think I know what I want to express…now, after a lengthy period of investigation. I say “I think” because I haven’t done it yet, and, well, things can easily slip back to an investigation mode. Investigation being the creation of a pot full of possibilities. Possibilities being stimulating and addictive.

This problem began with my fascination with a marble Greek relief of a woman walking and my desire to interpret it. Many reasons have surfaced as to why I am drawn to this sculpture and want to carry this “feeling” about it into my work. The question of how to do it was uppermost. I sketched, traced, and outlined the finely sculpted folds of her dress, her wrap, and then the whole shape, and then parts of it. The sketched outcomes were abstracted biomorphic shapes or linked geometric bands.

Then I outlined the whole shape and then parts of the shape. When I focused on the feet, I thought I surely had what was most important to me. One foot softly yet assuredly placed on the ground. The other foot slightly raised. The lines I drew had a nice lyrical quality. Yes, it was that slightly lifted foot.

Paying attention to proportion and to the precise point at which to curve the line of the arch, I drew and redrew with pencil and scissors. Back and forth with line and shape and thoughts of long ago.

Various stories moved across my mental screen. Was there a hesitancy or coyness I was seeing in her posture? That small jar she’s carrying so casually by her side: Did it hold oil? The day was sunny. Right? Was the left arm raised in greeting? How do I weave these questions and imaginings on to paper?

No, it was not the slightly raised foot.

The quiet, the mystery of an unhurried moment from long ago has stretched across time. A moment so far in the past has spread so impossibly slowly into the present that I believe her next step could be now!

It’s the movement! The step in extended time and space! A few visual memories of Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 and then I picked up my pencil. Two lines!

With lines in tow, the exploration moves forward.