Drawings, 2006–2010

In these drawings, the effects of catastrophe are evoked as part of an ongoing cycle of occupation, displacement, and collapse. In graphite drawings on large expanses of white paper, lines of people, animals, and objects navigate endlessly through a suffocating void, emerging from and disappearing back into the blankness of an ever-changing frontier.

The landscapes that these populations occupy are frozen and denuded, crumbling under the weight of human abuses. In drawings such as When daylight moves, we rely on distance and All of our moments are stolen, I worked to elicit a sympathetic relationship between the restless, transient groups of people and the charred forest through which they move. In Stampede, electrical poles take the place of humans, rushing toward the viewer as though fleeing an oncoming flood. In these works, neither the land nor the people escape unscathed, although what exactly they have escaped from remains unknown. Scarred and changed, they ultimately reassess, regroup, and move on.

Aftermath, 2006 graphite on paper 60 × 72 inches

Erosion (detail), 2010 graphite on paper 54 × 69 inches

All of our moments are stolen, 2008 graphite on paper 60 × 72 inches

All of our moments are stolen (detail), 2008 graphite on paper 60 × 72 inches

Perched (detail), 2010 graphite on paper 54 × 69 inches

Reconnaissance: March 26, 2006 (On the Move), 2007 graphite on mat board 32 × 40 inches

Reconnaissance: June 6, 2005 (Bomb Attack), 2007 graphite on mat board 32 × 40 inches

Rubble, 2006 graphite on paper 60 × 108 inches

Scavenging (detail), 2010 graphite on paper 54 × 69 inches

Surveil (detail), 2010 graphite on paper 54 × 69 inches

When daylight moves we rely on distance (detail), 2008 graphite on paper 60 × 72 inches