John Adelman Artist Statement

John Adelman
2315 Commerce Street studio C
Houston, Texas 77002
Cell: 940.453.0572
errantnickel@hotmail.com
Hollyjohnsongallery.com

Washed Drawings 

Washed Drawings, a further conceptual advancement of the erased drawing, showcase a willingness to eradicate a surface, comprised of tens if not hundreds of hours of work.  A surface once rich in density   and expressiveness though the continual build up layered gel ink, washed away to redistribute the previously    attained density, therein producing a lower contrast of color and value and establishing an overall lower key drawing.  The surface becomes physically abraded, wrinkled, punctured and torn. Additionally, the work has the capacity to move toward a three-dimensional heading as well.  The intimate space of the Lone Star College–Montgomery Art Gallery reinforces an insistence upon close inspection for a more expansion understanding and enjoyment of the construction and manipulation of the work.  Also, the saturation of the ink, water, and    detergents used upon the drawing surface produce extraneous marks, and rubbings of the underlying surface producing a separate consideration of mark-making.  The work is a visual representation of a quantity of immense proportions, and consists of three elements: a single resource, a constant and a variable.  

The resource is a collection of specific quantities, such as an     unabridged dictionary, or the entire contents of the artist’s studio.  The constant is a set of rules, which define the order and structure of a drawing, certain consonants remain consistent throughout the entire body of work, while others evolve from piece to piece.  The variable is the indeterminate, random component, defined by the constant and is a smaller unit of the resource, as with definitions contained within a dictionary.   I desire to see, not foresee, the outcome of the equation: constant plus variable(s). The equation, instituted at the beginning and unaltered throughout the duration of a work, incurs its own complete resolution.  A     representation devoid of the allusion of, yet rather an actual, albeit limited, spatial range through the layers of ink, stacked line by line.  The work’s stacking and material construction employs mainly black and/or blue gel ink on paper.   The work and the formulas which comprises it, are a direct reaction of the imposition of    object upon artist.  Found Object/Found Pen (radio), the paper’s dimensions directly corresponds to the extended length of the telescoped antenna for the height and the overall width mirrors the width of the radio itself plus its electrical cord. The Washed Drawing series,  beginning in January of 2006,  institutes a second variable upon the completely realized equation.  This additional variable through the use of water and/or cleaning detergents,  physically redistributes the ink across the surface, adding and eliminating actual areas of depth, translucency and   movement.  Lot (cereal, single serving with one-eighth cup of skim milk added) (2006), an entire bowl of granola based cereal was traced in regards its pre-described formula. 

Upon the completion of the tracing, an amount of milk, as dictated by the nutritional facts label on the side of the box, was poured directly onto the drawing. I presently reside in Houston, Texas, at the Commerce Street Artists Warehouse and work as a Adjunct     Professor at Lone Star College–Montgomery.  I believe an exhibition of my drawings will allow all students to further understand and engage in a greater dialogue the many varied  possibilities encased in the arena of works on paper. I have exhibited numerous at times on university campuses and have seen firsthand the ability of my work to encourage student-artists to see and reproduce the world around them in new, innovative and yet, understandable ways.
Lone Star College-Montgomery
3200 College Park Drive
Conroe TX77384
Phone936.273.7000
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