Agony in the Garden: 27 Spontaneous Drawings

EARLY

124 x 294 inches | charcoal, chalk, conté, pastel on paper | 2001

This wall of 27 square charcoal drawings became the beginning of my ongoing addiction to paper and site-specific installation art. Previous to this point my work consisted mostly of oil paint on canvas. When I was offered an exhibition opportunity utilizing this huge wall space, I decided to create the largest work possible. I spent three months scratching out tons of square charcoal drawings. I made piles of them, most of which were not used for this show. My idea was to make single, unified art piece from these smaller, individual components. All these works were created spontaneously and without much premeditation. Certain themes emerged that carry on in my work today: sublime happenings in nature, supernatural landscape, spontaneous generation, abandoned beauty, invisible forces.