"Study for Cut Panel Composition" (2023)

In this intimate graphite study, sedimentary rock fragments are carefully arranged atop a geometric base whose angular edges and stark shadows anticipate the cut panel format of the final painting. The artist's masterful handling of light and shadow creates dramatic contrast between the rocks' organic surfaces and the constructed planes below.

The deliberate cropping of the composition at irregular angles suggests the eventual physical shape of the painted panel and echoes several of the interior angled shapes and edges, demonstrating how preliminary drawings can serve both as observational studies and as tools for working out formal decisions about composition, scale and presentation.