Chemtrails? 2018

Alfred Freddy Krupa made this drawing, "Chemtrails?", using white pencil on black paper. It’s a stark image – a skull floats in the air, seemingly integrated into a landscape of bare trees. The choice of materials here is quite important. Krupa isn’t working with oil paint or bronze, the traditional materials of high art. Pencil on paper is a humbler, more direct medium, more closely associated with sketching and design. The way Krupa uses the pencil, with many short, energetic strokes, gives the image a raw, unfinished quality. The skull and trees are built up from a network of lines, almost like a spider's web. This technique resonates with the drawing’s title. "Chemtrails?" suggests a conspiracy theory, a sense of unseen forces at work in the environment. The drawing's rough and ready aesthetic mirrors the idea of something being revealed, unearthed from beneath the surface. Krupa challenges the traditional distinction between fine art and craft by elevating a simple medium and technique to convey a powerful message about modern anxieties.