JoAnn Gonzalez Hickey
THE COLLECTOR
In March of 2005, the first drawing, Plus/Minus, by Gloria Ortiz-Hernandez, marked the birth of my collection of contemporary abstract works on paper. It was a pro-active step taken after years of living with art out of pleasure with no particular focus. It was a first small step down what would become a meandering path into drawings, where in the present, the future would to be revealed through the past.
I have a proclivity for all kinds of paper. I read paper as a skin, sensitive and alive. Paper’s fibers imbedded by human pulse offer a window into the life and mind of the inscriber. I never tire of works on paper, they remain fresh and active to my eye.
I find the internal dialogue prompted by abstraction to be stirring. Fragments of a human life experienced and inferred in a drawing offer a narrative where associations proliferate. It requires deep looking. Contemporary diverse in culture, process, materiality and form, present in unbound juxtapositions. Contemporary, of the moment, ventures into the unknown.
I embrace the mind/body as one. Engaging with drawings connects me to my senses where, in equal collaboration with thought, meaningful experiences are created. Drawings have become a harbor for passion, inspiration and wonder. In the unknown, trusting my intuition, something opens in my mind to reveal new understandings.
The integrity of the collection rests upon the adherence to these ten principles of practice:
1. If it feels like a drawing it is a drawing.
2. A good drawing is a good drawing no matter its origin. In the context of the collection a drawing maintains its voice.
3. The definition of “drawing” is ever expanding thus opening new areas for exploration.
4. Only the collector can determine the suitability of a drawing for the collection.
5. Collecting in depth occurs as an artist’s language continues to expand.
6. All work in an artist’s oeuvre is important in evincing elements essential to its overall characterization.
7. The network of associated professionals is best developed organically and over time.
8. The acknowledgement of SYZYGY ( the Greek word Syzygos:consort, the twin, the thing to which one is drawn to connect, a gravitational system) imbues the collection with biographical undertones.
9. Visiting an artist’s studio is akin to an archeological dig.
10. Maintaining the integrity of the collection requires strict adherence to these principles. This allows for an extraction of a cross section of the collection without forsaking it’s character.
What I have learned is that drawing is best approached directly and observed slowly in order to perceive its impulse. Feel with your eyes. Listen with your heart. Nothing else is needed.