Smoke and Other Indications...: DRAWINGS

Drawings by Jason M. Marak

In this recent series of pencil and ink drawings, I attempt to move beyond archetypal descriptions of flora, eschewing notions of delicacy and impermanence, exploring instead nature's dark stubbornness and its ability to adapt, survive, and surprise.

--A Different World Is Possible, 2025

A Different World Is Possible, Exhibition Video:

(the deep past)

Genesis: 1

The room filled. An agitated audience milled and partook, prematurely polishing off the cheese plate and lighting up more out of habit than need. Smoke hung and played through rough-hewn wooden rafters studded with state-of-the-art fixtures, tinting the light sepia. Hushed conversations carried on, but everyone kept at least one eye glued to the stage and the spot-lit dais. At last, the sumptuous red velvet curtain rustled and parted. It was about to begin.

Lady Bunny appeared - framed by the scarlet folds, knees bare, glasses tinted, womb ringing. She stood, statuesque. Unmoving. Unmoved. But Her stillness was not bunny-like in the least. Hers was not the paralyzed, trembling stillness of quarry. No. Hers was the motionless contemplation of the lioness, calmly watching what was to be culled.

Lady Bunny approached the podium. Creation time, She muttered —Time for Mama to make magic. On cue, the microphone squealed and everyone stopped. Lots to cover, She said, so please hold comments and questions, especially those designed to share irrelevant personal information, until The End. Lady Bunny mouthed something indecipherable to someone off stage (that would be me), gave a wink and a thumbs up, then turned back to the motley crowd. "We love you, Mama!" yelled something big-eyed and hairy, as a chorus of hoots began to rise before Lady Bunny raised Her hand and returned order to the universe.

______________________________________________________

Constraint/Restriction/Limitation/Creation:

An artist statement in 100 words

We usually (with good reason) feel negatively about constraints. However, regarding creativity, I find restrictive conditions profoundly useful. Working within self-prescribed parameters pushes me to solutions I wouldn't arrive at working unfettered. In these drawings, I limited myself to one primary shape in various iterations. Repeated consideration of the shape changed how I interacted with it. Shapes became "figures." Figures became characters. Narratives developed. A mark might inspire a line of text or vice versa. The process wasn't linear. The drawings incorporate this process as part of the final product. The corresponding 100-word stories afford alternative experiences of the visual.

--Fictional Space, 2019

Fictional Space, Exhibition Video:

Delta Despised Dinner Parties

Things got complicated after appetizers. Her friends, a high-end plumber and her marine biologist husband, had invited a new couple, a big-game hunter and his art dealer wife. "Tigers are, pound for pound, the laziest creatures on the planet. Hand to God." Delta, who had experience with big cats, called bullshit and the subject changed. She was happy when sex started. Whale songs, talk of tiger tails, sweating pipe joints, and the Rothko Chapel had put Delta deep in the mood. With the plumber's richly calloused hands at her hips, Delta became the sea, powerless against the moon's invisible pull.

Delta and Jimmy and Nightfall

Delta is spitting mad or perfectly at peace. Nearly naked or bundled. Delta dances fast. Jimmy prefers slow. Delta and Jimmy have never danced slow. Not once. Seriously. You see, Delta is an attractive force. Moths, flames. Sharks, blood. Attraction. Delta can draw Jimmy into anything she pleases. This pleases Delta to no end. Jimmy isn't helpless. Actually, he is. Here's the thing: it's celestial. Delta and Jimmy, binary stars orbiting an untouchable force. It's what makes them stay. It's the moment nautical dusk gives way to astronomical: when sheep becomes field, ship becomes sea, and darkness levels the universe.

______________________________________________________

Artist Statement, 2017:

This statement is one hundred words. Exactly. I like limits: word, speed, spending — fixed points to operate between or consider zooming past. I also like repetition: A sound or shape or image or movement that, while retaining its original attributes, becomes something new through doubling, tripling, quadrupling. Elements are emphasized/de-emphasized by recurrence. These drawings are built from the repetition of interlocking five-stroke units: their shared genetic code. One unit leads to the next until a figure suggests itself. This process provides me the perfect trinity: the pleasure of mark making, the spontaneity of abstraction, and the descriptive possibilities of form.