As soon as the start date of the Visual Dialogue Project was set, I went out and bought several sheets of washi, which I cut down to the 30 x 30 cm size and put them up on my wall above my studio desk. And I thought I would be able to work on the drawings throughout the month of August, but that was not so. As it turns out, this three month period from June 1 to August 31 was one of the busiest in recent years both in the studio and at work. However, I had the blank sheets of washi on the wall as a constant reminder of the project. This gave me a chance to rethink my approach to the project for this busy time period. Thinking about place, memory, and traces, I decided to collect all experiences related to those three concepts and spend this last weekend in August expressing my thoughts on five different drawings. While thinking about this project, I also considered that we are in the first leg of a yearlong project and did not want to overwork the drawings. My approach to these drawings is quite similar to how I have been making my Daily Drawings and Memory Remnants collage – working intuitively over a short time span while recalling memories and emotions. Over the last few months, my day to day studio work has been minimal due to energies devoted to new installations for two different exhibitions this summer. The Daily Drawings have occurred a bit sporadically this period, but I have maintained a daily practice with my Memory Remnants which seem to have a more direct connection to my emotions and memories due to the materials I use for those collages This is why three of the five drawings involve collage rather then pen or pencil. The other consideration I made with regards to this being the start of Visual Dialogue was to think about this first phase of the project as an icebreaker. I did not want to start off with a series of complex thoughts, but rather thought about throwing out a single proposition to begin the dialogue and see where it goes. As far as the second phase of Visual Dialogue, I am looking forward to modifying my working process to put a more consistent approach to mark making for the drawings that I will receive. I also think that I will keep my responses and extensions simple for this second phase with the idea of pushing the drawings further in the third and fourth phases as the project enters its second half.
Drawn Dialogues 