Drawing Installation
Santa Fe Art Institute
FALLING | Sante Fe, New Mexico 2002
The Santa Fe Art Institute (SFAI) was founded in 1985 by Pony Ault and the noted architect and artist William Lumpkins, both of whom sought to provide a unique opportunity for emerging artists to pursue a brief, intense period of study with critically acclaimed visiting artists.
11 Drawings
Dimensions: 4 ft x 13 ft
Art has come back to me slowly. . . It took me a while to deal with the destruction of the Twin Towers, which I used to visit with my daughter Shammiel. For months, this loss paralyzed me in many ways. The inability to move around the neighborhood freely only prolonged the psychological and psychical withdrawal after September 11th. To restore my sense of balance I reverted to what has always been my way of responding to life, my art.
I had the opportunity to travel to an artist’s residency program at the Santa Fe Art Institute in New Mexico, during which I completed an installation of eleven drawings on tyvek paper (40 in x 13 ft) entitled Falling. The drawings are my response to the scenes and moments I had witnessed on September 11th: people waving white handkerchiefs from the windows of the towers, amorphous yet painfully recognizable shapes falling down, and the clouds of white dust. In my Santa Fe project, I wanted to represent a metaphorical light that has been essential in my life during these past months.
Additionally, I had the opportunity to collaborate with the composer Jim Wilson, who produced a piece of music entitled Falling to accompany my work. Thus, I have gone from a place of self-examination and feelings of loss to a reassurance that creating art restores vibrancy and light to us all.
