Drawing is like solving a problem, according to Gallery Director Cynthia Hawkins. For the many artists involved in the Sculptors Drawing Virtual Panel Discussion, which has been available on Youtube since Feb. 10, drawing is often an instinctive partner to sculpting; less frequently honed than the sculpting itself, but useful nonetheless.
The Bertha V.B. Lederer Gallery has hosted the Sculptors Drawing exhibit since Feb. 10 and will continue until Wednesday March 10. This exhibit played with divorcing its featured artists from their primary art form, sculpting, in favor of art on paper. The artists spotlighted were Colin Chase, Valeria Cray, Dan DeZarn, Lynn Duggan, Ronald Gonzalez and Allen Topolski.
The Virtual Panel Discussion for this event, organized by Hawkins in the interest of making galleries more widely accessible during the COVID-19 pandemic, included Cray, DeZarn, Duggan, Gonzalez and Topolski. Chase was unable to speak due to a prior gallery engagement. Each of the five artists in the virtual panel took the time to introduce themselves and contextualize their work with Hawkins, who guided the discussion and asked informed questions of the panelists.
According to the Geneseo website, this exhibit invited “all forms of drawing a sculptor might use to create their work” including sculptors’ “experimentation with marks, materials, support structures, and drawings as a walkabout - to get to a new place, new situation, or new thought process.” With the drawings of each sculptor literally in the background of this virtual panel, Hawkins welcomed sculptors’ thoughts on drawing, problem-solving and the creation of art as a process.
Topolski admitted that he doesn’t think of sculpting and drawing as separate things. He feels that the process leading to the product involves many different art forms, including both drawing and sculpting.
“I was formally trained as a painter and in the two dimensional because it seemed like a more accessible means of expression at the time,” Topolski said. “[A professor] introduced me to [focusing on] the process, as opposed to focusing on the expectation of the product, and I found that very liberating, so I really moved there into sculpture.”
Cray brings drawing and sculpture together while designing concepts. She tries to focus on what a piece represents and ensuring that the process of creating the piece is contributing to the feeling of the work as a whole.
“When I make my work, I put it together after I draw and do small tests to make sure that everything is working together,” Cray said. “Art is the only thing that gives you a piece of calmness, a piece of pleasure, a piece of yourself. Even if you can’t do art, you can allow yourself to appreciate art.”
Duggan began as a painting major before learning about metalsmithing, which led to her interest in sculpting. Like Cray, Duggan begins her process with a concept at the heart of the piece.
“I sketch for my sculptural work and for my metalsmithing work, but those are usually small, very loose ideas,” Duggan said. “I draw to narrate, as I think you can see, out of everyone's work mine is the most narrative. It usually has to do with some kind of political or social issue. I come at everything really from a feminist lens.”
DeZarn drew as a hobby before learning that he enjoyed the art of drawing. In his creative process, DeZarn likes to use drawing and sculpting as a way to discover what the piece wants itself to be.
“Drawing kind of found a home in sculpture because I was using tools that I was really comfortable with … like the welder and grinders and chainsaws, and things like that,” DeZarn said. “The beauty for me, at the time of sculpture and with drawing, is that there wasn't an answer. There were no right or wrong answers. So, you could work with intensity, but you didn't have to come up with the correct answer, you were able to meander through it.”
Gonzalez draws to create projects but is easily frustrated with drawing. He feels he needs to create his drawings through sculpture immediately rather than focusing on the drawing itself.
“When I do things on paper, it's usually with the wax which I used to use on my sculpture,” Gonzalez said. “I would do a little bit of background drawing and then I would just put it away after sculpture. I'm always too busy working in sculpture [to have time to draw].”
These artists’ feelings about both drawing and sculpture emerge through their art on display in the Bertha V.B. Gallery exhibit. The multi-layered paper approach of Topolski stands in stark contrast to the minimalist sketches done by Duggan and, perhaps more jarringly, the smoke-on-paper medium used by Gonzalez.
Regardless of drawing style or mediums used, each artist conveys their process and the emotional core of their work through the art at the Sculptors Drawing exhibit.