Untitled 

Editor: This untitled graphite drawing is by Fernando Calhau. I’m really drawn to the texture. It’s almost like looking at something under a microscope, but it also feels incredibly vast and undefined. What catches your eye? Curator: Indeed. Note how the density of the graphite fluctuates. Observe the areas of deep, concentrated darkness versus the almost imperceptible gradations of light. Consider how this contrast sculpts a form, both tangible and elusive. Does this variance evoke any particular structural ideas? Editor: I guess so! The sharp contrast and tiny dark 'dots' scattered throughout suggest depth. It reminds me a bit of early nebulae photographs, actually. Almost a cosmic cloud effect emerging from this background. Curator: Interesting, and valid. I appreciate your analysis of depth. Could this be a macro and micro representation in relationship with each other? If we remove our emotional reaction and attend to pure line and form, consider the interplay between the implied and the definite, how that shapes your observation? Editor: That’s a useful viewpoint. Thinking of it only as form and line helps. It emphasizes that, ultimately, it is just a study in creating texture. Like how the background is not one uniform texture, it varies in pattern and pressure which impacts on how the "cloud" emerges. Curator: Precisely. And this variance disrupts the expected sense of a defined 'cloud'. This emphasis shifts our focus to the material reality of the work itself - the mark-making, the graphite on the surface. That is the essence of this composition. Editor: That's helpful, because viewing it in the purely formal way you describe really unlocks the meaning in how Calhau created the marks, not only where he put them, in relation to creating depth, or… other interpretations. Curator: My thoughts as well. A powerful rendering through fundamental materiality.