Warren Craghead: Material

Washington, DC, artist, Warren Craghead, continues my recent project by writing about "material." As usual, I extend an invitation to all local artists who would like to participate in this effort. Just email me!

Jafferson Estates #220 (my jaw)
Mixed Media
11.75" x 11.25"
2003

Warren Craghead: Material

My studio is like a stew or a salad or a bomb crater - pieces of notebook paper, cardboard, post-its and foam lie in piles surrounded by scraps of pen and pencil drawings, string, plastic, old junk mail, magazines... These ordinary, everyday materials are combined with drawings of ordinary, everyday things, transformed and unlocked to reveal the world through bafflement and beauty.

The source material for my work is the world around me - I take pictures while driving, I draw during dinner, I remember things while I'm working. The world is so full of crazy and lovely and sad stuff I don't need to make anything up. Mostly I draw suburban neighborhoods and the landscapes around and inside them - I think they're fake and numbing and ugly, but I also see a beauty there, some kind of weird serene alienness that fascinates me. I grew up in neighborhoods like the ones I draw and as a kid had to find whatever beauty and poetry that was there.

Finally, the works are spontaneous narratives; each drawing is a kind of story, one that tells itself as I draw. It's about creating mystery and confusion and bafflement, like the real world does. I want to make something that doesn't only reflect the world, but competes with it a story that isn't only read but also experienced. I work on them until they feel right, and hopefully something materializes.

Jefferson Estates #128 (behind)

Previous Posts:

Charles Neenan: Tradition
Kelly Towles: Color
Ryan Mulligan: Originality
Matt Hollis: Confinement
Dean Fueroghne: Originality
James W. Bailey: Obligation
J. Coleman: Depiction
Andy Moon Wilson: Decision
Molly Springfield: Language
Bryan Whitson: Scene
Elyse Harrison: Motivation
Jiha Moon Wilson: Influence
Alexandra Silverthorne: Derivative
Jose Ruiz: Contemporary
Kathleen Shafer: Focus
Jennifer McMackon: Connection
Gregg Chadwick: Responsibility