Vija Celmins

To start, view Untitled (Ocean) by Vija Celmins from the collection at the Ft. Worth Modern.

I should warn you that my favorite form is drawing. Graphite is best, charcoal is daring. Others are all fun but these two will always have a special place in my heart. This post is a little of a cheat because I watched a documentary with Celmins talking about her work. What I like most about it is how the precision through its single-mindedness conveys a sense of calm. I’ve often thought of drawing as a sort of meditation but it never occurred to me that the difficulty in meditation could also be explained through a comparison to drawing. While looking at her works, somehow everything in the periphery fades. I can almost hear the sound of the pencil on the paper. Scratch, scratch, scratch.

Some other notes about the documentary (on kanopy): often I don’t want to listen to an artist talk about their work, but this worked because she wasn’t busy trying to posture her work alongside a bunch of other names. She’s also funny. She also mentioned taking breaks from making art, which is a nice reminder.

I’m keeping this short and maybe abrupt, because it’s been sitting in my notes app for weeks. Until next time.