NELSON Molly talks on Eva Hesse

1) INTRODUCE THE DRAWING IN GENERAL TERMS

•What is the title of the drawing?

Untitled

•What is the name of the artist?

Eva Hesse

•What is the year the drawing was done?

1961

•What is the medium? (ie the materials used to produce the picture, for example charcoal on paper, pen and ink etc) 
This piece appears to be created with charcoal and ink or watercolor?

•What is the subject matter or general theme of the work? (eg is it a figure drawing, a map, a portrait, an autobiographical work, a picture about nature, a drawing of the city etc?)

This drawing is fairly abstract, it looks as though it might be an abstract human head though it also looks like it could be a flower or just a non-representative collection of shapes and lines.

•What is the purpose of the drawing? (eg Is it a diagram that explains how something works? Does it record accurately record the appearance of something? Does it express the artist's emotion or memory? ) 
There is no documentation to indicate that this drawing is meant to represent a specific memory or emotion but it seems quite possible that it relates to Hesse's disturbing personal history and the emotions that go along with that. In an interview with Cindy Nemser, Hesse began her response to the opening question of "Tell me about your family background" by saying "You won't believe it. I was told by the doctor that I have the most incredible life he ever heard. Have you got tissues? It's not a little thing to have a brain tumor at thirty-three. Well, my whole life has been like that." And it's true, as I continued to read about the past of Eva Hesse, it was filled with tales related to escaping the Nazi party and gradually losing everyone she had ever been close to. Later in this same interview she states "There's not been one normal thing in my life--not one--not even my art."

This drawing is clearly deeply emotional and expressive, and the thick, dark, heavy lines make it clear that the emotions being expressed are not light ones. The composition too is unsettling as it is quite unbalanced and escaping the frame, a frame drawn in by Hesse that also appears unstable and perhaps unsettling.

2) DESCRIBE THE DRAWING IN DETAIL

•How is line used? What does it do/express?

The lines used by Hesse in this picture are both quite heavy and loose. This highly expressive use of line makes the piece very emotional and gives the viewer the sense that the artist released some sort of dark, intense feelings through the creation of this piece.

•How is tone used? What does it do/express?

Generally, the feeling of this piece is quite dark, though in reality there is a range in tone within this composition. The slightly darkened tone of the drawing's background makes a significant impact on the overall feel of this work as it lessens the contrast and creates a much more moody and evocative picture. Interestingly, traditional uses of shading are not a part of this drawing though Hesse does use the same sort of principal by gradually lightening and smudging the marks made around the main figure.

•What can you say about shape and/or form in this picture? What is the effect?

There is not really a sense of 3-Dimensional form in this picture. The shapes used are quite organic and loose. Hesse even eliminates the one geometric form that seemed stuck to her image: the rectangular frame created by the pages edges by loosely drawing a second frame just within the edges. This use of texture creates a sort of transition between the dark ink and the pale background but also in it's rough nature sets up a sense of divide between these two elements.

•Is texture a feature of the drawing?

The way Hesse draws loosely and broadly with ink seems to emphasize the natural texture of her materials. Around the edges of her circle is a ring of chaotic scribbles that provides the only real drawn in texture of this piece this scribbly area seems to both lessen the contrast between the dark ink used in the drawing and the pale background, but also its rough nature makes it a sort of barrier between these two sections.

•What can you say about the composition of the drawing? What is the effect of this type of composition on the overall drawing?

This drawing definitely has an unstable composition. The drawing is not centered in the frame, and is even part way outside of the frame. This frame itself is also significant as Hesse has drawn in a second frame, eliminating the harsh edges and angles of the rectangular paper, doing away with what had been the only even, clean, straight, and geometric feature of this drawing. This treatment makes the drawing even more unsettling to the viewer.

•Is rhythm important in this picture? If so, say more about it...

I would not say that rhythm is important to this painting, though perhaps the lack of rhythm in terms of traditional lines might be significant. The place where I might see a sort of rhythm is the series of concentric shapes with a new frame drawn inside the natural frame of the paper's edge, followed by a circle within a circle. This use of concentric shapes could be a strategy to pull the viewer more deeply into the piece.

•Is the picture balanced? Explain...

I would say that this picture is very much unbalanced, there is no line of symmetry and even things that would normally be balanced like the loosely rectangular frame and the circles (both geometric shapes typically considered to be symmetrical) are drawn so roughly that they do not convey a feeling of balance at all.

•Is perspective used in the picture? If so, describe the way that the illusion of three-dimensional space has been created.

No, perspective is not really an aspect of this drawing.

•Is the picture harmonious? If so, in what way?

No, I would say this picture is anything but harmonious actually.

•Are there any strong contrasts in the picture? Say more...

The heavy, dark ink contrasts the pale background, though there appears to be a thin wash of ink over the background so that this contrast is not too strong. Also the thin scribled lines contrast the thick solid ink lines.

3) INTERPRETATION AND EVALUATION

•What is the mood of the drawing? Justify your answer using information from your responses above

The mood of this drawing is definitely dark and very expressive. It does not necessarily appear to be depressing or full of sorrow but more something a bit twisted and haunting. The picture appears to signal distress without being a cry for help. The artist achieves this simultaneous sense of both strength and disturbed emotion with the assertive use of powerful, bold black lines. The lack of stability in the composition and the chaotic scribbles are what cause this emotional uneasiness. There is also a sense that the circular figure is sort of anchored down, it has a sort of heavy feeling even though it is located at the top corner of the frame, as if something is keeping it from flying away completely. This could be due to the fact that the circle nearly comes to a point at the bottom, looking as if it has been stretched or pulled downward and also the long, dark drip of ink extending all the way to the bottom of the frame. This bottom edge also is significantly darker and thicker than the other three sides, adding to this sense of downward gravity. This visually heavy, downward aspect could be linked to an emotionally heavy and downward sense of the drawing.

•In your opinion, why is this work interesting/moving/ clever/ imaginative/thought-provoking/......?  Choose the adjective(s) that best fit(s) the work, and then justify your conclusion in terms of specific features and qualities of the drawing.

In my opinion, this work is both interesting and moving, as well as probably many other things. What I find interesting about it is the fact that it is simultaneously so simple, yet seemingly complex. At a glance, it is difficult to find words to talk about this drawing, which immediately feels funny because it is constructed from a collections of loose and simple lines that only together make an emotionally complex composition. The work is moving through the fact that it is also strong and assertive. The artist makes her presence known through expressive, bold lines that have an absence of any sort of timidity making it clear that her emotions overpower any apprehensions that an artist may otherwise feel when approaching a blank canvas, or in this case paper.