DAGMARA GENDA

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MAKING BAD ON HISTORY, OR, DRAWING BLOOD FROM THE SAME OLD STONE

The title for this piece refers to the interpretation of history. The cut drawings are derived from baroque and mannerist outdoor garden sculptures that often depict Greek myths. Using the gestures and bodies as a starting point, I draw large works and then cut the lines out and recombine them by hanging them. This switching of mediums from sculpture to drawing and the recombination of forms creates a new narrative, one that is far more abstract. It also draws connections to other mediums, like the language of comic books, for example.

My desire is to take this overly familiar visual vocabulary of greek sculpture (that same old stone) and create new possibility from it. My goal is not to stay true to or understand history—I do not want to make good on history—but move beyond the damaging pieces we have inherited. To do this, I rearrange pieces so that they might imply something new.

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