Untitled 2017

This ‘Untitled’ artwork was made by EtchingRoom1 with what looks like pen on paper. I wonder, what does “EtchingRoom1” mean? Is that the artist’s name, or some kind of collective? It’s so fascinating to think about how this drawing came into being; it’s like a world being built, one tiny mark at a time. Look at the sheer density of marks and how the accumulation of those marks builds up a kind of atmospheric cloud above the scene. It’s like the artist started with the sky and then the marks got denser as they moved down the page. I sympathize with the artist; it must have taken hours! I wonder, were they in a trance? Did they have a clear idea of what they wanted to create, or did it emerge intuitively, one mark informing the next, like a conversation between artist and page? It reminds me of the work of outsider artists like Adolf Wolfli, who covered every inch of paper with obsessive detail. Artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity!