Drawing Specimen 1, 2012                                                                          16 x 9 x 4 in                                                                                     handmade cotton/linen blend paper                                                           



Drawing Specimen 9, 2012                                                                            9 x 9 x 5 in                                                                                      handmade cotton/linen blend paper                                                             

Drawing Specimen 8, 2012                                                                          17 x 6 x 5 in                                                                                     handmade cotton/linen blend paper                                                            

Drawing Specimen 10, 2012                                                                        17 x 8 x 6 in                                                                                     handmade cotton/linen blend paper                                                            

To create Drawing Specimens, I first clip a fresh, damp, handmade sheet of paper to the wall. Then, using a bodily gesture that allows for the natural curve or fold of the paper, I push and play with the sheet, gradually clipping the other three corners together with the first. I continue this process until the lines and shadows in the paper provide an engaging composition. I then let the sheet dry in the position into which my caresses and tugs have forced the sheet. 

I call them drawings because this process is very immediate and deeply invested in my body and gesture. All movements are clearly defined and repeated in order to provide a control; the seemingly limited nature of the process allows for greater fascination at the myriad novel forms that emerge. I find joy in the surprise of each new form. 

Prior to interacting with each piece, I could never imagine the form that will emerge. In that respect, I feel that the Drawing Specimens are a sort of collaboration between the paper and myself. Each is an example of the potential "life" that the very sheet has within. Each sheet assumes one of an infinite number of forms and tells the unique story of the path of my fingertips, the weight shifts of my feet, and the caresses of my hands as I coax each Drawing Specimen into form.