DRAWING AT THE CORE

Drawing is at the core of all my work. I approach it as a discipline that is at once somatic, sensory, and cerebral. In my latest work, I draw directly on the wall with both hands at once, sacrificing control for a direct reflection of body symmetry and dynamics. When I strike and stroke the wall with silver thimbles on all my fingers, drawing and percussion—white space and silence, pattern and rhythm—become one. The form that emerges is inseparable from the process of its making.

These surprisingingly vigorous performances bring me full circle to the work I was making just before I took up drawing. I began by typewriting the same words over and over—using all ten fingers, making sound as well as marks. I segued from typewriting to drawing—with india ink and dip pen—to focus on the nature of repetition and the metaphor of line. I trained myself to draw with my left hand as well as my right, to reflect both sides of my body and both sides of my brain. I increased physical engagement by dragging my grandmother's sterling spoon along the wall in large temporary wall drawings.

My work has always been performative, the result of a choreography I rehearse and then execute. I now invite an audience to witness the process and share the callings that move me: Discover the unexpected that lives within the familiar. Transcend conscious awareness. Honor the present moment and the infinite continuum of time.

— Linda Hutchins, 2012