August 2019



The striking depth of charcoal is what makes this medium in essence, timeless. The current works of Ivana Quezada embody a rich and intricate passage into the abstractions of light versus dark in all of charcoal’s dusty glory. Finally, some answers to this alluring discipline.


If I had to sum up the overall feel of this exhibition, in short, I would say it is delicately intense. In your piece, A Brief Sudden Brightening, majestic and complex clouds open to the sky. What is the process to such an exhaustive detailed style?


Ivana: The structure and marks of these forms have sort of evolved from one another; this evolution has allowed me to uncover more of what it is exactly that I am trying to achieve in these particular forms. These decisions have also resulted from discovering the possibilities of expressiveness in charcoal. Although I do not directly or consciously reference any definite subjects as I am drawing, I will constantly observe and study fractal patterns formed in nature. Naturally, the textures and details I create become allusive of those present in reality. The general forms and compositions of each drawing result from a gestural, instinctive process that becomes more controlled as I build up the work. My process begins by laying out gestural marks using a chamois leather cloth, using charcoal pencils and compressed charcoal sticks I gradually intensify and refine those subtle marks that were made apparent in the initial gestural strokes. This process involves a lot of trial and error as I try to harmonize these erratic unintended forms with intentional detail, but the randomness eventually evolves into an organized chaos.






For the current exhibition did you use charcoal in powder form or only sticks and pencils?


I: For all of the works in this current exhibition, I used vine charcoal, compressed charcoal sticks and charcoal pencils. We must admit, this is one of the hardest exhibitions we’ve had to install. With every delicate movement there is a slight bit of loosening and subtle undoing of the charcoal powder – like all dry mediums that have to endure travel and packaging.



What makes this the medium of choice for you?


I: I prefer using charcoal over any other medium because of the complete range of values it offers, enabling me to create subtle transitions between soft and dense spaces. Charcoal allows me to create an atmosphere that alludes to the natural yet remains ambiguous and distant from reality through its absence of color.



How would you describe your work to someone who’s never seen it? Or, how do you want your art to be perceived?


I: would describe my work as the abstract becoming natural. Forceful formations born out of random unintended forms reveal harsh complexities that still contain a harmonious and systematic movement. These movements display the cycle of creation and destruction, formations coming into order and out of order. I hope the viewer experiences an exploration into unknown areas, being pulled into each work through the vague familiarity present in each scene, and remains interested by the unsettling feeling of experiencing something new and Strange. Who or what influences your work? I: John Martin and Gustav Dore are two major influences, I admire the overwhelming beauty they are able to achieve in despairing settings. I hope to capture a similar beautiful and menacing presence in my work.



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