LA MAISON, graphite on paper. 80 cm x 60 cm, 1997. Collection Betti Romersi, Rome, Italy.
I produced this and about a dozen other large drawings on paper using graphite in early 1997. They were produced while during a stay at the Cité Internationale des Arts, 75004 Paris. I was sponsored by The American Center in Paris. What was interesting about producing these works was the repetition involved in making a space, a word or shape completely black. I burned through a hundred No. 4 and 6 soft lead pencils. I also began to take an interest in turning words into images, drawing them.
My stay at the Cité lasted until the following March (1998) and when I left I had left off drawing and begun producing collage and assemblage pieces on wood.
A number of these drawings still exist, the largest of which is more than 2 meters wide and a meter high and is called: ONE DAY NOTHING HAPPENED. On that drawing, in graphite I designed the DUMB BUNNY, which has had a life in drawings, stencils, silkscreens and collage works.
Right: Installation shot of LA MAISON in Betti Romersi's house in Rome, Italy. (Click to enlarge). Romersi, a friend, artist and collector, sandwhiched this piece in a massive glass frame, a design out of her favorite decade, the 1970s.
