DRAWING CHALLENGE XV

We are pleased to announce Maya Ciarrocchi, James J.A. Mercer and Brenda Zlamany as the featured contestants of our Drawing Challenge XV, which was inspired by the following words by Marcel Proust, taken from 'La Prisonnière', the fifth volume of 'Remembrance of Things Past', also known as 'In Search of Lost Time', which was published in France between 1913 and 1927.
We would like to thank the artist Alice Zinnes for submitting these lines.
 

 "The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."

Maya Ciarrocchi, Bimah, 2020, cyanotype on Paper, 24 x 18 inches

”In response to this line of text from a Remembrance of Things Past, I selected a cyanotype print from a body of work that documents the physical and emotional manifestation of loss. My source material includes architectural renderings of demolished structures, maps of vanished places and decorative details found in destroyed synagogues. Through the layering of architecture, maps, and memory in this work, I investigate how displacement writes itself into generational consciousness. The resulting compositions construct new, fantastical spaces that offer possibilities for healing and remembrance.”

- Maya Ciarrocchi
@mayaciarrocchi.com
www.mayaciarrocchi.com

James J.A. Mercer, A Beach by The Systematic Group, 2019, ink and pencil on paper, 9 x 12 inches

”This drawing was made by laying two differently sized grids on top of each other and then playing off of the strange pattern of rectangles created. I'm fascinated by mismatches between abstract form and subject matter, I find that abstraction is highlighted when paired with counter intuitive imagery.”

- James J.A. Mercer, 2020
www.jamesmercer.net

Brenda Zlamany, Masked Portrait #39 (Alison Slon), September 3,2020, watercolor and pencil on paper, 12 x 9 inches

“This is a selection of watercolors from my current socially distanced masked portrait project. So far there are 70. They are all done from direct observation. Through this project, eyes and seeing become an entirely new journey for myself as well as for the portrait subject. The sitters are Portia Munson, Alison Slon, Stephen Westfall, and Brian Hastings.”

- Brenda Zlamany, 2020
www.brendazlamany.com

Jane Sangerman, Dualis D97, 2020, mixed media on Arches paper

“There is a duality connected with seeing. Eyes view a world around and outside of us but they also look inward. The concept of “above and below” is the skeleton upon which my work functions. It provides the arena in which my ideas and mark making occur. I present two diametrically opposed spaces hinged vertically. The upper portion explores the metaphysical, divine, dreamworld while the lower segment examines the close-up man made world before us. Porous barriers both allow and obstruct our view.”

- Jane Sangerman, 2020
www.janesangerman.com

Nancy Berlin, Transition 6, 2020, mixed media on wood panel, 11 x 14 inches

”At this moment in time I cannot look at landscape without thinking 'climate change'. But while looking this way can lead to despair, it also exposes new options to explore and expose.”

- Nancy Berlin, 2020
www.nancyberlinart.com