Beams Drawing

In 2017 Marisa Rappard started working on a series of drawings depicting a mesmerizing stream of hatchings. She treats the paper with random stains of acrylics and then covers the paint with lines in black ink. By repeating lines she creates dense patches that collide, together forming an image meandering between figuration and abstraction. Acting on impulse and coincidence, Rappard carefully adjusts each drawing until it invites the beholder to enter it and wander around in it endlessly. This particular work was one of the first in this series and one of her favourites. It was made during a hot summer full of preoccupying events such as the terrorist attack in Paris. The worrysome atmosphere of the times translated themselves into roughly colliding patterns, suggestions of clouds and explosions, and compulsory hatchings full of radiation. The rough cut edges of the paper also contribute to this sense of disrupting times.