Damaged Goods
Typewriter drawing on paper, graphite & double sided
tape
45 x 48 inches (114 x 122 cm)
$1300
Eighty-Nine (detail)
Permanent marker & isopropyl alcohol on paper
22 ½ x 30 inches (56 x 76 cm)
SOLD
Exoskeleton
Typewriter drawing on paper
One-hundred-fifty-eight 5-inch (13 cm) squares & six-hundred-thirty-two magnets/tacks
7 feet (2.13 m) tall by 6 feet (1.82 m) wide
$3000
Permanent marker on paper
22 x 22 inches (56 x 56 cm)
$300
Artist Statement:
Modernity
forces us to be vigilantly aware of a constant influx of information, lest we
be thwarted, caught off guard, or left behind—a seemingly impossible task. By first synthesizing and then chipping away
at this information, we comfort ourselves with smallness, familiarity. We
dissociate from the inconceivable.
Using
a grid and a drawing tool, I address one segment at a time. The looming threat of the greater image—one
that might take ninety hours or thousands of strikes on the typewriter to
complete—becomes a singular drawing, a smaller, conceivable task that is both
separate from and part of the future whole.
The
parallel to life is so clear—this essential process can also be dangerous.
Synthesis and compartmentalization are of course necessary for survival, but
cross a fine line and these abilities can transform into self-deception and
denial, or harbor an obsession with control and perfection.
But
how satisfying it is to draw this way! Walking that fine line fulfills this
bizarre, fretful urge to attain perfection. Alongside (and perhaps contradictory
to) this urge, I’ve come to enjoy the imperfections and happy accidents that my
background in printmaking and drawing has led me to. I revel in working within
a medium in which marks can’t be erased and blemishes are a part of the
process. For me, it’s a funny, competitive exercise in self-flagellating
gratification, and a reminder that I’m not a computer, yet.
Rachel Mulder
The works above were created between November 2013 and July 2014 and were created for Analog Obscured, an exhibition of works by myself and photographer Lindsey Rickert at AFRU Gallery in Portland, Oregon. The opening reception took place July 3, 2014. The show comes down on July 31, 2014. Gallery hours: Friday & Saturday 12-4pm; Sunday 2-6pm
These drawings were made using my Sears Citation II typewriter, graphite, sharpie & isopropyl alcohol.
