Drapery–contours of creation

Drapery

– I just find drapery to be something so beautiful–the way the folds form–seemingly just by chance (if you throw the same piece of fabric down a thousand times it would never look exactly the same), but also governed by an unseen science, principles that make it behave the way it does–and the way the light flows over these forms in some areas soft, in others hard.

– It is an ordinary object–something you see ever day, but something I look at in contemplation and longing.

– For me the whole world–with all its beauty and pain and suffering–is summed up in the expression of this little piece of fabric.

– The negative space created by shadow is for me something of great feeling. It is the expression of a human soul.
– I find this one of the most moving things in all of art.
– It makes me cry for a suffering world longing for its God, waiting in silence.
– It is something so everywhere [that] it unites the world like its being created by God and its returning to him.

Art Notebook, 2/8/20

The above entry provides more insight into one of Isaac’s last paintings, which was previously described here. Isaac began an independent study of drapery during a term abroad in Florence. He later incorporated it into his final project at Davidson College. Isaac’s younger brother, Ander, is currently studying drapery for his own work in iconography–it it is a major feature of icons, especially in the garments of the saints.

Absence of a Chair, 2020