JANE BROWN | DATE 5/25/2012

ARTBOOK @ Paper Chase Presents Pat Pickett: Tree Drawings

Please join ARTBOOK @ Paper Chase (7174 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood) on Sunday May 27, from 6-8pm, for the opening reception of Pat Pickett: Tree Drawings, on view through June 17th.

To create these unique drawings, Pickett attaches a pen to the end of a live tree branch and positions a drawing surface (paper, panel or photograph) below. Her implement thus records the branch movements brought on by each gust of wind. A drawing may take anywhere from 15 minutes to 4 hours to complete; each expresses the behavior of a different tree, its species and the particular wind conditions during which it was made.

Reminiscent of Cy Twombly's sweeping, gestural scribbles, Pickett's marks are both direct records and conceptual readymades. They "turn tree limbs into metaphors for human movement," according to The New York Times.

Born in New York and raised in the fields and woods of Vermont, Pat Pickett holds a BA from Scripps College and an MFA from Hunter College. In addition to her work as an artist, she has taught art history to aeronautical engineering students and lectured at international scientific conferences on the effects of wind on trees.


Pat Pickett: Tree Drawings will be on view Wednesday through Friday, 11am - 5pm, through June 17, or by appointment. Please contact Jane Brown or Tricia Gabriel for more information.