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It is our great pleasure to join the “Drawing Nature” online seminar, organized by BBDS (Black Book Drawing and Sketching Journal) on Friday, April 4th, with a presentation titled: “Touching Earth: Drawing as Intra-action and Entanglement in Here, Down Below”
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BBDS’s call for proposals frames drawing as an active agent in nature:
“As part of nature, everything we create—every line, every mark—emerges from and interacts with the environment. This theme emphasizes drawing as a tool for reflection, care, and awareness, urging us to consider the impact of our actions on the delicate balance of ecosystems. Inspired by biodiversity preservation as gestures of hope and responsibility, and by drawing as an ecological act, we seek papers that address drawing as both a creative and ethical practice.”
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Imprográfika (with Anthi) will share experiences, observations, and graphic material from the experimental workshop “Here, Down Below”, a drawing workshop dedicated to earth. The presentation will focus on one of its units, “Clay Notebooks”, where participants explored whether—and how—soil can shift from a descriptive subject to the very material of drawing. Through this process, they examined how matter and traces intertwine in complex intra-actions and entanglements.
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By investigating drawing as a means of fostering deeper connections to nature, we emphasize its role as exploration, touch, medium, and agent—operating beyond visual-, anthropo-, and logo-centric regimes. Our aim is not only to reconnect with, understand, interpret, or protect the fragile earth but also to shift paradigms, moving toward drawing as a symbiotic, spontaneous, and ecological gesture. This approach seeks to redefine drawing’s materiality, revealing mark-making as a multifaceted practice of inscriptions, imprints, and interfaces.
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Seminar Details
Seminar ZOOM LINK for both days (no registration needed)
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86328084018?pwd=Iw7UBW0pKmuanYn7sOIk4Ji0EglwVB.1
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Program
April 3rd
16h30 to 19h50 (UTC – Lisbon time)
Sydney (AEDT): 03h30 to 06h50 (+1 day)
New York (EDT): 12h30 to 15h50 (same day)
Panels Moderation: Pedro Soares Neves (Lisbon University, Portugal)
1st Panel – Nature Nature
- Brent Dedas (University of South Carolina, USA) – “The Honeybee Blueprint Project”
This project explores the architectural and organizational principles of honeybee colonies, drawing parallels between their natural structures and potential applications in human design. - Max Zolkwer (UADE, Argentina) – “Crab, Tender, Casa Galpón, Spiders”
An exploration of unconventional structures and spatial narratives, focusing on the integration of organic forms into urban environments. - David Griffin (OCAD University, Canada) – “Knots and Knotting: A Poetics of Drawing Water”
Investigating the metaphorical and physical connections between knotting techniques and the fluid dynamics of water, this presentation delves into the poetics of these intertwined elements. - Q&A – 20 min
- Tea Break – 20 min
2nd Panel – Human Nature
- Melisa Paz Miranda Correa (UC, Chile) – “Drawing Through Amuya: Andean Epistemologies and the Relational Practice of Landscape”
This study examines Andean ways of knowing and how drawing serves as a relational practice to understand and represent landscapes. - Paulo Ito (Brazil) – “Lines in Motion: Drawing, Gesture, and Urban Reflections”
An analysis of how dynamic lines and gestures in drawing can capture the essence of urban life and its continuous movement. - Kiera O’Toole (Loughborough University, UK) – “Drawing Spatialized Feelings: Counter Mapping Atmospheres”
Exploring how drawing can be used to map and express the ‘spatialised feelings’ of everyday atmospheres, challenging traditional cartographic methods. - Sara Schneckloth (University of South Carolina, USA) – “Marking Ground”
A participatory drawing exercise designed to synthesize the day’s discussions and encourage embodied understanding through practice. - Q&A – 20 min
April 4th
16h30 to 19h50 (UTC – Lisbon time)
Sydney (AEDT): 03h30 to 06h50 (+1 day)
New York (EDT): 12h30 to 15h50 (same day)
Panels Moderation: Pedro Soares Neves (Lisbon University, Portugal)
1st Panel – Nature Nature
- Anthi Kosma-Imprográfika (University of Thessaly, Greece) – “Touching Earth: Drawing as Intra-action and Entanglement in Here, Down Below”
Investigating drawing as a practice of intra-action with the earth, emphasizing the entangled relationship between the artist and the environment. - Kathryn Poole (University of Central Lancashire, UK) – “Ford: Choosing To Notice”
A study on the act of noticing and its significance in observational drawing, particularly in natural landscapes. - Nishita Jha (India) – “Drawing as Preservation: Nature, Identity, and the Quiet Act of Paying Attention”
Exploring how the act of drawing serves as a means of preserving both nature and personal identity through attentive observation. - Kristy Gordon (Australia) – “Drawing, Slowness, and Water”
An exploration of the meditative aspects of drawing water and embracing slowness in artistic practice. - Q&A – 20 min
- Tea Break – 20 min
2nd Panel – Human Nature
- Björn Kühn (Germany) – “Technoid Realism – Drawing Against Nature?”
Examining the concept of technoid realism and its implications for drawing practices that challenge traditional representations of nature. - Lisa Fingleton (Ireland) – “Drawing into Life: Drawing as a Catalyst for Change”
Discussing how drawing can act as a catalyst for social and environmental change through community engagement. - Linda Michelle Knight (RMIT, Australia) – “Counter-mapping Big Data and Species Precarity Through Drawing”
Exploring the use of drawing as a tool to critique and understand big data and species vulnerability. - Q&A – 20 min
Seminar ZOOM LINK for both days (no registration needed)
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86328084018?pwd=Iw7UBW0pKmuanYn7sOIk4Ji0EglwVB.1
For all questions please contact: info@wisethorough.com
*Sara Schneckloth, From Charting the Badlands: Topography, 2019, Earth pigment, colored pencil, graphite, ink
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