Consciousness of Consciousness

30 x 22.5 inches, colored pencil, gesso, graphite, and paint pen on paper

With this work, the physical act of drawing is the catalyst for an emergent system. I started by building a large handmade tool consisting of a cluster of hundreds of pencils glued together. I then dragged this mass across the paper in a looping, figure-eight form, allowing the lines to repeatedly cross their own paths, creating recursion. The resulting marks felt infused with the behaviors of a chaotic system, organically generating pattern and structure out of the mass. For me, semi-random, yet looping physical act served as the genesis of the work. I was exploring how a higher order or even a form of consciousness could emerge from chaotic, bodily repetition. I spent the remainder of the drawing process solidifying and codifying this initial burst of action, building a within the spaces between the raw foundation of lines. The title refers to a closed system where an emergent mind-body relationship can develops, endlessly repeating, mutating, and growing as it feeds back into itself.