Wolf_Kahn_2009

JN : How would you have us see these drawings in relationship to your current work? WK : In these drawings, I was involved in description, in making a record of where I was. They represent my attempts to connect with my surroundings, which I am still trying to do, in different ways. They are my earliest efforts at observation, which is the source of my art today. JN : How did the landscape without figures become your primary subject? WK : I reached a point when I no longer knew what the figure in the landscape should be doing there. Corot put nymphs and such in his landscapes, but if I did that, I would be dishonest. I use the landscape as a pretext, not a subject. JN : You have said that you discovered “there are no lines in nature”. Is this why you have given up line drawing completely, and draw only in pastel? WK : It was my growing interest in color that took me away from drawing. I still love to draw. JN : Why did you decide to show these drawings now? WK : I pulled these works out last spring and after not having seen them for many years, they looked better than I remembered. When I did them, I was not making any quali tative judgment at all. I think it is a mistake to try to assess quality that way. I also decided to show these drawings because your gallery provided the right venue. JN : How do you see yourself as an artist? WK : I am not trying to be an artist; I am just trying to do my work. I like to think of my art as an ant heap. Each time I finish a work, I am bringing a grain of sand up to the top.