» Sketches in Space | Sumakshi Singh

“Real Edit/ Virtual Edit”, France, 2008. Camouflagued railing- continually painted for 3 weeks, attempting to match the constantly changing colors of the cliff and sea. Finally at 1 moment in time & space (50 ft away from railing) this hand-done process successfully imitated photo-editing softwares that easily replace, add or erase information from the environment.

“Real Edit/ Virtual Edit”, France, 2008. Ofcourse as one left the specific viewing spot they encountered the “lie” behind the “editing” of information, as the fictional promise of the removed barrier (balustrate) reveals itself.

“Real Edit/ Virtual Edit”, France, 2008. This project dealt with the absurd on many levels – as I walked 50 feet back and forth to gague the effects my newly added color would have in visually obliterating or pronouncing the balustrade in realtionship to an environment that was constantly changing colors anyway. How does one fix their position relative to a constantly altering “given”?

“Promise”, 2008, Lincoln Center, NY. Sketches for a perceptual drawing of a Tiffany classic engagement ring box, that ultimately turns unrecognizable. 2 people work simulaneously. Closing one eye, I keep my head steady and call out to a collaborator to make a mark in space that co-relates to my percetion of the actual Tifanny box. Directed by my instructions alone (left, right, up , down…etc), this drawing finally gets created, retaining all the hesitations and flaws of this mapping procedure.

“Promise”, 2008, Lincoln Center, NY. 2 people work simulaneously. Closing one eye, I keep my head steady and call out to a collaborator to make a mark in space that co-relates to my percetion of the actual Tifanny box. Directed by my instructions alone (left, right, etc), this drawing finally gets created, retaining all the hesitations and flaws of this mapping procedure.

String sketch of “Thurow Lab” the space on the other side of the same room. 2007. Hyde Park Art Center. Chicago.

Perceptual drawing of a chair, 2008, Sculpture Space, NY. 10ft X 4ft X 6ft. Tape, Colored pencils, chalk on layers of paper. Closing one eye, I keep my head steady and call out to a collaborator to make a mark in space that co-relates to my percetion of the actual chair. Directed by my instructions alone (left/right/ wall/ floor…etc), this drawing finally gets created, retaining all the hesitations and flaws of this mapping procedure.

“Mapping the Studio”, 2008, Sculpture Space, NY. Tape, Colored pencils, charcoal and graphite on various objects and surfaces of the room.

“Absence and Extension”, 2004. Fine Arts Building, Chicago. Stalled in space, stripped of its original function, the 8th floor elevator is now a glass box, to be peered into but not entered. My allusion is to this newly assigned function by pushing the illusion of horizontality in a space that essentially implies veritcal transit. The dislocation is further re-iterated by the viewer’s conspicuos absence in the multiple “relections” that in a tounge and cheek manner are illusions of virtual images, made with “real” objects”.

“Absence and Extension”, 2004. Fine Arts Building, Chicago.

“Absence and Extension”, 2004. Fine Arts Building, Chicago. Right image – Normal view of elevator – 5ftX 8ft X 4ft. Left image – Apparent Depth – 12 ft. Wooden panels (cut and calculated to perspective to create trapeziod floor, walls and ceiling), wooden frames with digital images.

“Elastic, Plastic, Echoes, Edges”, 2007. Mattress Factory Museum of Contemporary Art, Pittsburgh, PA. I created the illusion of the floor boards extending themselves further back in space, using manipulated inkjet prints, pasted on the back wall. The space gets disorienting as the relative angles of the floor misalign themselves from the fixed angles on the wall.

“Elastic, Plastic, Echoes, Edges”, 2007. Mattress Factory Museum of Contemporary Art, Pittsburgh, PA. Process shot. Inkject prints on wall.

Sketch of stool in my studio. Acrylic paint.

Perceptual drawings / sketches done in spaces

Plays in Perception