Main content:

Chance Paper Studies

Paper and graphite
22” x 18” x varying height
Contact the artist for pricing

The initial inspiration for this work came from a visit to the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven. I was with my son, Ash, and we were looking at some very beautiful abstract Japanese ceramics. I remember him asking if I could consider making sculpture and what materials I would use. The ceramic pieces were so simple and direct and un-self conscious, and it occurred to me while looking at them that I could do something in a material as basic as paper.

This small series of eight pieces borrows from both the “Chance Drawing” series and the “Paper Studies” series (seen elsewhere on my site). Like the Paper Studies, this work is composed of two sheets of paper, one manipulated and one flat and graphite is applied as required by the sculptural concept. Like the Chance Drawings, grids were drawn on the paper and an alphabet of marks was applied to the grids following a chance process using dice and coins. The grids were drawn, stretched in perspective and otherwise applied in a way that reinforced or enhanced the three-dimensional topography of the paper.

Shaped paper with accompanying grids, an alphabet of marks and the dense surface application of graphite combine to make these three-dimensional and sculptural drawings.