Case Study: Copyediting | by Warren Goldie
“Before” and “After” – Copyedit of an Artist’s Statement
First paragraph from the Artist’s original draft:
Slow down your seeing. This is a directive I often give to my drawing students as well as a practice I follow myself. Slowing down one’s seeing offers the opportunity to truly see the sensitive relationships between forms, and an opportunity for stillness of being.
Warren’s edit of the above:
“Slow down your seeing.” This is a directive I often give to students in my drawing classes, as well as a practice I endeavor to follow myself. It opens the door to seeing and feeling the sensitive and often ephemeral relationships between forms.
Next paragraph from Artist’s original draft:
Whether drawings, prints or installations, each of my works trace a history of my slowed seeing. Fallen branches, uprooted garden vegetables and organic matter are claimed from roadside walks and moved to the studio to transition to still life material. I draw from direct observation. This meditative and regular drawing practice re-enacts the rigor of a devout religious practitioner.
Warren’s edit of the above:
Whether in drawings, prints or installations, my work follows a history of slowed seeing. Fallen branches, uprooted garden vegetables and scattered organic matter are claimed from roadside walks and taken to the studio to become still life subjects. I draw from direct observation, calling in the limits of my senses. It’s a meditative practice that recalls the rigor of a religious practitioner.
Next paragraph from Artist’s original draft:
The organic forms sometimes wilt while I engage them, as my observation shows their minute changes in structure, yielding forms striking and yet subtle. The time-charged transformative process yields forms that is beautiful and attentive to the eye.
Warren’s edit:
Organic forms sometimes wilt while I engage them, and close observation shows the change in structure, yielding forms both striking and subtle. The time-charged transformative process yields forms that is beautiful and attentive to the eye.
Next paragraph from Artist’s original draft:
The same attention to observing small details or activities has initiated installation works. Seeing the letters SACR, remnants from the word Sacred, on the well-worn spine of the book of prayers at a funeral ritual led to the installation, Mother, which honors the memory of twenty deceased sisters.
Warren’s edit:
Seeing the letters “SACR,” remnants of the word Sacred on the well-worn spine of a prayer book at a funeral ritual led to the installation, Mother, which honors the memory of 20 sisters who have passed on.
Artist’s original:
My recognition of the wooden pillars of an empty 19th Century Dubuque warehouse still resembled a forest, despite their regularity of placement, led to the creation of Sacred Grove. This installation was formed of 30 life-size paper lantern reproductions of the warehouse pillars.
Warren’s edit:
My recognition of the wooden pillars of a cavernous, empty 19th Century Dubuque warehouse led to the creation of Sacred Grove. That installation was formed of 30 life-size paper-lanterned reproductions of the warehouse pillars.
Remainder of the Artist’s original:
The natural wood grain texture along with the human-made scars from years of drills, nails, staple guns, etc. were transferred to a soft fibrous paper by rubbings with water-soluble wax crayons.
Holding, observing and weaving a palm frond into a small cross during a Palm Sunday liturgy led me to consider that the palm branches would later be burned to create sacred ashes, a material quite similar to the artist’s charcoal. This led to a series of drawings that employed charcoal, smoke and screenprinted imagery, each relating to Lenten rituals.
I find pleasure and solace in the simple act of seeing and desire to share this experience with others. I hope to draw the viewer into a similar contemplative space.
Warren’s edit of the rest:
The natural wood grain texture, along with human-made scars from years of attention by drills, nails, staple guns, and other tools were transferred to a soft fibrous paper by rubbings with water-soluble wax crayons.
Holding, observing and weaving a palm frond into a small cross during a Palm Sunday liturgy led me to consider that the palm branches would later be burned to create sacred ashes, a material quite similar to the artist’s charcoal. This was the impetus for a series of drawings that employed charcoal, smoke and screen-printed imagery, each relating to Lenten rituals.
I find pleasure and solace in the simple act of seeing, and wish to share this experience with others through my work. My hope is to draw the viewer into a similar contemplative space.