Seeing is a fluid action. It is not objective and it is always changing.

My drawing teacher is constantly reminding me that the line is a figment of the human imagination. It does not exist. Everything that is important lives outside of our perception. He reminds me to draw what I see, not what I know.

And when I put my pencil to the paper and get into that zone, everything suddenly becomes negative space-- the space between the lines, as opposed to the content of what the lines themselves represent. And I wonder about this space -- its emptiness and its molecules and its phenomenological value.

My teacher also reminds me to spend time looking at the space and at the figures in front of me before I put pencil to paper. He tells me some of the most prolific artists spend more time looking than drawing.

Directing in essence is an art of looking.

My process often begins with looking and interpreting the space and environment I am working with-- in a text, in the actual physicality of the space and its spirituality. The space becomes a living, breathing entity on top of which additional elements are layered. I am curious about what the specific space I am working with can share about a work.