Ross Quarry 1973

Malcolm Rice made "Ross Quarry" with graphite on paper. Looking at this artwork, I'm immediately drawn to Rice's intricate mark-making. The precision of the lines, the way he builds up tone to create depth and shadow—it all speaks to a deep engagement with process. Up close, the texture of the paper becomes part of the drawing; you can almost feel the tooth of the page interacting with the graphite. The individual marks, those tiny strokes and hatching lines, accumulate to form the larger image of the quarry. See how he uses darker, more intense marks to suggest deep crevices? The light seems to play across the surfaces, accentuating the rough edges and jagged forms. It's as though Rice is not just depicting a quarry, but also revealing the underlying structure of the earth. Rice's "Ross Quarry" reminds me of the drawings of Piranesi, who was equally fascinated by the grandeur and decay of architectural forms. Like Piranesi, Rice invites us to contemplate the sublime power of nature, and the human endeavor to tame it.