New Drawings!

Here are some examples of the drawings that are available as the $50 reward on my Kickstarter. They are 9x12 inches, pen and color pencil on parchment paper, with Realtree© printed paper cutouts under the parchment, all mounted on 96lb Bristol board. There will be five versions of each drawing, each with a unique color scheme and page placement.

Monster RT01Y ©Casey Lynch 2015

Raise 'Em Up RT01G ©Casey Lynch 2015

Tailgate RT01P ©Casey Lynch 2015

Some of What I'm Thinking About

I am calling the drawing style "neon light" style. Although I am emulating the "Outer Glow" effect from Adobe Photoshop, neon lights are a motif in Country Music that (as synecdoche) signify a (alcohol) bar, a place that of houses many rituals. The country bar is a place to be alone but with people, to do some thinking, to drown one's sorrows, and to forget. But it is also also a place to celebrate, to dance, to party, and perhaps find a mate.

In Art speak, the Bar may be thought of as a heterotopia, a site where inhabitants are simultaneously present and absent. (Examples are the "space" inside a mirror, a cemetery, and the honeymoon vacation. ~Michel Foucault) "The bar" is also a term used in linguistics. Often illustrated as a diagram, "the bar" is a line that separates the siginifed from the signifier, a barrier that must be crossed in order for meaning to happen ~F. de Saussure.

With this new body of work, I'm thinking about the possible meanings of, and the hidden truths behind imagery that resonates with me as being Southern* or ore broadly, "Country." I am exploring my sentiments for "the country" and the American South through images and objects that sparked both fear and awe in my younger self, and nostalgia and desire in my adult self. The drawings featured here use the pickup truck as both subject and object; a thing that illuminates and is illuminated; a person whose interior is camouflaged but whose outline radiates.

My work has always used artificial light as a trope. In many cultures, religions, and even scientific theories, natural light (and its absence) play a critical role in describing ultimate truths. My work uses artificial light [light sources controlled by humans] to pose questions such as, "What does it mean for light to be artificial? Can there even be a such thing as artificial light?" and by extension, "What can that teach us about Truth?"