Eagle 2014

Gazmend Freitag made this sketch of an eagle in 2014 with graphite on paper. Look at that graphite, those soft marks, the smudging, and the pressure of the artist’s hand at work. I can almost feel the give and take that occurs in the act of drawing. I feel like I'm standing next to Freitag as he works, watching him make decisions, erase lines, and redraw them again. Maybe he’s thinking about the relationship between representation and abstraction, and the challenge of capturing the essence of a living thing with just a few lines. It must be a conversation between the artist and the subject, as the eagle gradually emerges from the paper. Think of other artists like Durer who have also been fascinated by drawing and the animal kingdom. Artmaking is an ongoing conversation across time, inspiring artists across generations. I feel a real connection to the work. Don’t you?