Meticulous graphite compositions communicate "the stories we tell to fill vacuums of knowledge due to suppression or trauma," in the works (and words) of Brooklyn artist Kat Chamberlin. In a new collection of drawings, the artist, who was born in Amsterdam and raised in Turkey, dives into the elements that form both a visual lexicon and a depiction of the breakdown of language. The interdisciplinary artist, who works in light installation as well as drawing, describes her latest visuals as a balance between what's present and what is absent, each marked by her use of black and white. She says, "Geometric forms protrude from a landscape by means of erasure. The method of subtraction by erasure speak to an existing absence and a survivalist need to articulate from a flat void."
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Given the artist's interest in conspiracy and legends, her work can often be seen tipping a hat to mythological narratives. In "[t]he absence of clear truth" is a space that Chamberlin describes as the breeding ground for myths. Using this concept in her work, negative and positive space thus gives definition to unfamiliar shapes and glyphs.
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