Intuition

This body of work began as drawing studies of the human figure. I then decided which areas needed to be emphasized within the creation of a woodcut. Wood has a unique and organic character that gives richness and detail to a print that I find appealing to my work. The creative process led me to explore adding abstraction to realism. Carving tools suddenly became a drawing utensil instead of a rigid carving implement. This opened more opportunities to create loose lines that added new dimensions and a deeper portrayal of emotion.
When the figure is studied through drawing, it is often stoic, and emotion is mostly read in facial expression. It is easy for viewers to understand and read what feeling the artist intended to capture. While facial expressions are important clues in portraying the emotion the figure has, I am more interested in how the body itself evokes from the placement of limbs and the shape and curve of the torso which explain the physical side of emotion captured in the work. So much information is held in body language and deserves to be seen.