When Mary Herbert started shifting her focus from observational to imaginative drawing, she noticed that the early morning hours allowed for an enhanced intuitive approach to artmaking. Starting with a roughly abstract color composition made of flaked pastel dust on paper, she created a nocturnal dream-like coastal landscape, dotted with lush, glowing vegetation and ghost-like, ethereal figures. She let her image emerge over a couple of weeks, carefully allowing it to rest and breathe. Rather than looking, she appreciates the act of listening to the image, inviting it to hold space for enigmatic content derived from dreams, memories, and the silently witnessed.
The Body Remembers, 2021
soft pastel on paper
19.3” x 11” / 49 cm x 28 cm
