cigarettes

I work intuitively with the two ends of a cigarette drawing at the same time, suggesting two players in a relationship evolving over time. Some compositions are bounded in that the two ends eventually connect and cycle over and over again; some compositions are unbounded where one or both ends escapes its compositional confines, suggesting a much larger scheme outside the drawing. Each cigarette can be seen as a unit of expenditure of life or time. One cigarette is a unique decision or event that is increasingly affected by prior decisions or events. The players in any bounded or unbounded composition eventually become aware of other players.

I think of these drawings as both two and three dimensional sculptural forms, often rhythmic and lyrical, and sometimes more linear and angular.

Larger drawings require a physical contortion that mimics the drawing. These drawings are rendered loosely with much variation in line and length of line and length of torn tape, meant to suggest the deep imperfections in any kind of human connection and different time units, at times freeing, at times suffocating. They can be read forwards and backwards along their lines and also as a complete composition with a myriad of positive and negative spaces.

Masking tape suggests a tenuous holding together of things especially as it grows in size and complexity, suggesting a greater and greater accumulation of time and commitment.

I am beginning to explore cigarette drawings as a non-verbal reconciliation tool, where a large drawing could be completed by a number of players.

My final drawings suggest a Gordian knot looking for a heroic solution, or as a Medusa-like protective field of energy and complexity.