Standing Still | Exhibition by Erin Fostel
oin us on Saturday, January 14th from 7-10pm for the opening of 'Standing Still' a solo exhibition of new work by Erin Fostel.
Exhibition runs January 14th - February 4th
The architectural drawings Erin Fostel is currently working on came about through grieving the loss of her father in late 2014. He was an architect who enjoyed exploration, always interested in finding new ways to get from here to there. She wanted to create a body of work that served as both a commemoration of his life, and a relief from the heartbreak of his death.
She started exploring parts of Baltimore City she did not know well. At some point, she began taking photographs of certain buildings and structures that caught her attention, ones she thought would have been of interest to her dad. These ruminations, explorations, and photographs have become the foundation for her new body of work.
Fostel’s goal is not to simply document buildings. She wants to capture feeling, either her own somber feeling or a feeling she thinks a building can personify. She often manipulates the light and dark areas within her compositions, taking artistic liberties when applying the charcoal. As she has progressed in the series a desire to leave parts of the structures unfinished has developed, alluding to a sense of loss or emptiness. The challenge of balancing highly rendered areas with the underlying minimal framework of lines has become a focus, one that she anticipates will evolve as her exploration of the City continues to deepen. To leave the framework of the drawing visible is an attempt to reveal not only the immensity of the structure, but also the immensity of her grief.
