2020 (Temma Lowly with her father and the quilt made for her by her aunt Amy)
2020 (Temma Lowly with her father and the quilt made for her by her aunt Amy), Tim Lowly 2019-2020, Graphite on 28.5" x 40" Schoellerhammer drawing board.
Private collection - (I believe it will be in the collection of the Arkansas Art Center).
Recently ideas around seeing proved to be key as I wrestled with finding a meaningful way to approach a self-portrait commission. The project gained traction for me when I decided to include my daughter Temma lying in her bed behind me. Almost coincidentally the watercolor quilt that hangs by her bed, made for Temma many years ago by her Aunt Amy, entered the picture. Then, as the drawing progressed, it occurred to me to depict myself with eyes closed something that felt significantly charged and perhaps a bit disconcerting ... complicating the viewers’ expectations of visual access/engagement. How, one might wonder, does one make a self portrait with one’s eyes closed? By contrast, while Temma’s open eyes don’t see in a conventional sense, they do often indicate an attentive, utterly innocent presence. Meanwhile, the context fluctuates with the quilt on the wall depicted with a seemingly encyclopedic completeness while other less “finished” portions of the drawing acknowledge the limits of seeing."
This drawing was the initial work in my Voice & Site drawing project.
2020 (Temma Lowly with her father and the quilt made for her by her aunt Amy)
2020 (Temma Lowly with her father and the quilt made for her by her aunt Amy), Tim Lowly 2019-2020, Graphite on 28.5" x 40" Schoellerhammer drawing board.
Private collection - (I believe it will be in the collection of the Arkansas Art Center).
Recently ideas around seeing proved to be key as I wrestled with finding a meaningful way to approach a self-portrait commission. The project gained traction for me when I decided to include my daughter Temma lying in her bed behind me. Almost coincidentally the watercolor quilt that hangs by her bed, made for Temma many years ago by her Aunt Amy, entered the picture. Then, as the drawing progressed, it occurred to me to depict myself with eyes closed something that felt significantly charged and perhaps a bit disconcerting ... complicating the viewers’ expectations of visual access/engagement. How, one might wonder, does one make a self portrait with one’s eyes closed? By contrast, while Temma’s open eyes don’t see in a conventional sense, they do often indicate an attentive, utterly innocent presence. Meanwhile, the context fluctuates with the quilt on the wall depicted with a seemingly encyclopedic completeness while other less “finished” portions of the drawing acknowledge the limits of seeing."
This drawing was the initial work in my Voice & Site drawing project.