A Raven Shouts Water

Artist Statement: I’ve chosen to create my design as a drawing because it is a graphically direct medium that can easily be adjusted to fit the actual requirement of the technology. I like drawing for its immediacy.  It forces me to see the world scaled down in line and composition without the benefit of color.  Drawing requires me to think in a very committed way to line and movement.

I’ve worked in a tonal scale because the actual hatchcover will be experienced as kind of a shadow image.  The image will change, be more or less visible at different times of the day depending upon the weather conditions and by the amount of light reflected from the surface.  

The iconography in my drawing is direct and clear.  It’s the shape of a raven in motion shouting water.  While it is a literal image there is a great degree of abstraction in the line work so it will not necessarily be read as a picture.  They dynamic will be created by the approaching pedestrian’s experience of how the light hits, reflects and reveals the image.

Watch: Seattle Channel Profile of Artist Barbara Earl Thomas (2008)