Tacoma Arts in Review: Sean Alexander's "Seasonal Affective" at Fulcrum Gallery

Chest Full of Birds, by Sean Alexander
Medium: Graphite, Colored Pencil, Ink
Size: 21” x 21”
_{Images Courtesy of Jason Ganwich}

If I only had an hour a month to look at art, March would be spent delighting in the strange, intricate collection of drawings by Sean Alexander on view at Fulcrum Gallery through March 12.

It is important to see these drawings to appreciate the layers of detail and use of materials. Each value is created from a different pattern, and each pattern is built out of hundreds of exacting pen marks. Add buoyant watercolor, sturdy colored pencils and markers, and a few well-placed neon marks, and the result is a body of dense, delicate drawings that are best experienced in person.

Sean’s work plays with several sets of extremes in a meticulous, self-aware style.  He neatly contains each image either with flawless white space or a dense, patterned border. In his work, the boundaries are clearly defined and each piece isits own insular little universe. Although the borders are on lockdown, some of the interiors run wild with hints of secret spaces just out of the viewer’s grasp.

One of the most exciting pieces, Chest Full of Birds, is contained by the characteristic white borders but loses all reference at its center. There, you find incredible depth between a tangle of bulging, twisting, and mutating stripes and lines. Although we are not allowed to forget the two-dimensionality of the paper, the depth that Sean creates twists and engages your brain; while looking into Sean’s drawings, several times I found myself lost in daydreams, imagining the unseen interiors. Wherever Sean finds these worlds, it’s clear that he’s uncovered an endless supply and they wait patiently to be set loose, one by one.

A recent article reviewing the show was titled “Sad, Beautiful Drawings”. I would argue that the show need not be categorized this way. This show is perhaps a method of coping with the “seasonal affective” that many of us experience in the Northwest, rather than a direct expression of it. There is much joy, energy, excitement to be found in Sean’s work—practically euphoric at times, if you let it be. Where it may be interpreted as sad, it also retains a humble sense of humor which, combined with the rhythmic pen strokes and mesmerizing patterns, offers relief and a way out.

Carve out an hour to go see this show before it closes and when you visit Sean’s drawings, I recommend that you save his artist’s statement until you’ve viewed the entire show. If you have out-of-town visitors and want to show them the best of Tacoma, bring them here. And go now, so you have enough time to make a second visit. You’ll be glad you did.

Fulcrum Gallery
1308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Tacoma, WA 98405
Open Thurs, Fri, & Sat. 12-6 pm 253-250-0520
www.fulcrumtacoma.com

Review by Rebecca Solverson

ABOUT TACOMA ARTS IN REVIEW
Tacoma Arts In Review, a new column on Exit 133, regularly shares timely reviews and stories on art happenings in Tacoma written by local college students and community members. For more information and application details, go here.