This month at Kayo Gallery Salt Lake City artists Cara Despain and Mary Toscano open an exhibit of individually executed drawings, as well as a collaborative installation piece, entitled Into the White. The relatively young artists share a similar aesthetic, with an interest in expressive line executed on sparse to non-existent backgrounds. Animals and human figures hint at storylines that are only fully developed in the minds, and sometimes unsettled hearts, of the viewer.
At Toscano’s website, Hankie Frankie, the artists have been documenting the process involved in their works — their drawing techniques, Despain’s use of a scroll saw to make a horse’s head, and the proper way to shred six feet of paper and transport it as one unit across town.
In October 2009 we made our own video of Toscano when we sat down with her on the occassion of the 35 x 35 exhibit at Finch Lane Gallery. In the video she discusses her love of line, the impulse behind her sometimes unsettling narratives, and the then distant Kayo show with Despain. The video, which includes images of finished works and works in progress, is below.
The founder of Artists of Utah and editor of its online magazine, 15 Bytes, Shawn Rossiter has undergraduate degrees in English, French and Italian Literature and studied Comparative Literature in graduate school before pursuing a career in art.
Categories: Videos | Visual Arts
