Recently I’ve been thinking that one of the most significant undercurrents of my work is drawing. Even when I look at my paintings, the structures and principles of my painting approach are much closer to ideas in drawing rather than painting. When I paint, I tend to see the paint as a vehicle towards the concept, rather than being about the physicality of the paint itself. The correlations between drawing and printmaking are inherent, and I know that my rationale for making sculpture is motivated by a need to more thoroughly understand and draw any given topic from another perspective.
I also wonder whether the strong presence of drawing in my work is related to the fact that the majority courses I teach right now are in drawing. I’ve taught a huge range of courses in the past, including multiple techniques in printmaking, sculpture, and painting. In the past two years, my course load has increasingly focused towards teaching drawing, and this year all of my courses are in drawing. It seems impossible that this hasn’t heavily influenced my own work, as concepts in drawing are ones that I’m engaged with and thinking about on a daily basis.
To put it simply, what is unique about drawing is the complete honesty and directness you will always find in a drawing. In other techniques, If I want to learn more about an artist and their process, their drawings are the best way to truly understand what they’re about. There’s nowhere to hide in a drawing; your process and approach are naked and raw. To me there’s nothing more exciting than that.
Clara Lieu 