Your Custom Text Here
The works in this series were inspired by lawns and weeds, like the ones found in my suburban neighborhood in Maryland. As I began to look more carefully at these ordinary bits of nature, my drawings unearthed a connection with childhood memories of long summers in the countryside of Uruguay, immersed in the grasslands of the pampas. The works also brought to my mind the increasing scarcity of underground water that all grasses need to thrive, the proliferation of toxins in our soil, and the promise of the simple grass as a viable tool for capturing carbon dioxide. As I drew these grassy subjects from North and South, water became a catalyst in my process. Brushing on a clear grid of tap water on the paper, I wove ink and other marks in and out of the fluid foundation. I allowed these tenuous streams to trickle on, making connections, disrupting, pooling together, creating barriers. Within my clumps of grass, water underwent many changes, like a mirror, taking on all manner of tones and viscosities from its surroundings, even evaporating into thin air.
The works in this series were inspired by lawns and weeds, like the ones found in my suburban neighborhood in Maryland. As I began to look more carefully at these ordinary bits of nature, my drawings unearthed a connection with childhood memories of long summers in the countryside of Uruguay, immersed in the grasslands of the pampas. The works also brought to my mind the increasing scarcity of underground water that all grasses need to thrive, the proliferation of toxins in our soil, and the promise of the simple grass as a viable tool for capturing carbon dioxide. As I drew these grassy subjects from North and South, water became a catalyst in my process. Brushing on a clear grid of tap water on the paper, I wove ink and other marks in and out of the fluid foundation. I allowed these tenuous streams to trickle on, making connections, disrupting, pooling together, creating barriers. Within my clumps of grass, water underwent many changes, like a mirror, taking on all manner of tones and viscosities from its surroundings, even evaporating into thin air.
Review by Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, "In the Galleries/Irene Pantelis," November 10, 2023
Give and take (2023)
Sumí and walnut inks, acrylic on vellum, 60 x 36 inches
The dry world knew to stay wet (2023)
Sumi, walnut ink, watercolor on vellum, 60 x 40 inches (private collection)
Of water too are the grasses/De agua somos (2023)
Winner of the Leon Andrus First Place Award, 2024 Adkins Arboretun Juried Show, Ridgely, Maryland. Curator Mehves Lelic wrote: “I love how the ink is traveling on the paper and telling us about the intentions of the artist, but there are parts of it that are so controlled. I also like the undercurrents of decay, which to me is such an important part of our relationship with nature. I think this piece touches on that while carrying a sense of exuberance.”
Sumi ink and color pencil on vellum, 60 x 36 inches
Water replenishes all the parts (2023)
Sumi ink on vellum, 60 x 36 inches
Weeping grass/El pastito que lloraba (2023)
Inks and watercolor on vellum papers, 24 x 19 inches (private collection)
We are the clovers in your lawn (2023)
Sumi and walnut ink on vellum, 24 x 19 inches (private collection)
Thankless for all his careful care (2023)
Sumi ink on vellum, 24 x 19 inches
And thou shalt find me (2023)
Sumi ink on vellum, 24 x 19 inches
No turmoil on sight (2023)
Sumi ink on vellum, 24 x 19 inches
A couple donzen grasses (2023)
Ink, acrylic on vellum, 20 x 36 inches (private collection)
Hooves and heads (2023)
Sumi, walnut ink and watercolor on vellum, 20 x 36 inches (private collection)
The worm still slumbered there (2023)
Sumi ink on vellum, 24 x 19 inches
Desde abajo (2023)
Polylactic acid filament, approximately 12 x 12 x 24 inches
String trimming (2023)
Walnut ink and watercolor on vellum, 14 x 11 inches (private collection)
An inch of sod (2023)
Sumi ink on vellum, 14 x 11 inches (private collection)
Low sweet notes (2023)
Sumi ink, watercolor on vellum papers, 14 x 11 inches (private collection)
Luscious soils (2023)
Sumí ink and watercolor on vellum, 14 x 11 inches (private collection)
The weed gone, the grass bled (2023)
Watercolor on vellum papers, 19 x 6 inches (private collection)
Artist Talk: Conversation between visual artist Irene Pantelis and curator Aneta Georgievska-Shine, "Of Water Too Are the Grasses," Studio Gallery, Washington, D.C., November 4, 2023
2016-2025 © Irene N. Pantelis