ELISSA CRISTALL GALLERY

LOUISE PHILLIPS: "pencilled, as it were"

July 17 — August 6

Opening Reception: Thursday July 21, 7 — 9 pm
Artist Talk: Thursday July 21, 7:30 pm


This series of graphite drawings began with a statement found in a school textbook, which read, “One pencil can write 50,000 English words or make a line 55 kilometers long.” The double statistic prompted the artist to undertake multiple inquiries, first about the drawn line and then about English words.

In an artist statement, Phillips recalls: "Making lines with a single pencil, proved to be quite straightforward. The lines were simply drawn across the page, one by one in much the same way as English words are written line by line. Together, the drawings “2.88148 km” and “2.87861 km” make a 5.76009 km line which is much shorter than the predicted 55 kilometers (or 34 miles). The second part of the inquiry (writing) was not quite so easy. Although drawing lines and writing words are both forms of mark making, in the case of the latter meanings and thoughts need also be considered.


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