Ely, Timothy. Drawings from the Drawer: Digressions and distances, experiments and follies. Eight Drawings, sold individually. Colfax, WA 2001
Each drawing, 13 x 10 inches, on Arches paper. There are 8 separate drawings, each with its own cryptic message of cartographic, mathematic and celestial symbols and the artist's invented script. Drawn with ink, graphite and watercolor with some foil stamping; these drawings capture the skyline of dreams; the twilight of imagination. The artist explains: "As my books progress, there is a certain amount of research and play that goes on. There is a delicate set of balances that make up each book and often the success of the finished product is owed to the early workup drawings. There are also some drawings that are done in tandem with the book as amplification of ideas or departures that might simply fit with the design or trajectory of the ideography. Here are my "drawings from the drawer" that contain these mixed messages. Often the paper is treated with a size solution or primed with a colorant to mimic the earlier paper preparations. The drawing and painting materials are standard and traditional but occasionally there will be departures into more contemporary pigments and mordants." For book artist Timothy C. Ely, what is revealed is as important as what is concealed. Using a variety of traditional methods for his books and prints, Ely's narratives are often written in an imaginary language. His books are owned by the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Modern Art, Harvard University, the University of Iowa, Columbia University and others. Ely 1 Like a chart of new worlds, imaginary places, with its colorful details in hues of purple, blue, rose and orange, this drawing provides an entrée in to the unknown-a glimpse of creation? Notations in Ely's invented script. Ely 2 Caught in motion, what secrets does this polygon keep? Rose wash with details in black, red and yellow. Notations in Ely's invented script. Ely 3 What mysteries lie in this polygon of cloudy gray? Gray-rose wash with details in blue. Notations in Ely's invented script. Ely 4 Diagrams seem to chart the energy of this polygon. Gray-rose wash with details in yellow, red, black and rose. Notations in Ely's invented script. Ely 5 Will the scrap of Ely's invented script in this drawing serve as a Rosetta stone? Shades of gray with highlights in red green and yellow. Ely 6 The book, protected by spheres, perhaps it contains the cipher to Ely's invented script. Shades of gray and rose, with yellow, green, blue and red highlights; some foil stamping. Ely 7 Celestial projections from another dimension, this drawing seems to chart the constellations of another universe. A striking rainbow ribbon and metallic ink dramatize the picture. In shades of gray with details in red, green, yellow and purple; foil stamping and metallic ink. Ely 8 What are the stories found within these constellations? Subtle shades of gray with blue highlights and Ely's invented script in white, red and blue; foil stamping.
$US700
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