lightning drawn shapes by cassandra c. jones

‘dog’ by cassandra c. jones, 2012 archival inkjet print 44 x 44 inches edition of 2 all images courtesy the gallery and the artist

cassandra c. jones: pictures taken #drawings eli ridgway gallery, san francisco, california, USA on now until may 19th, 2012

san francisco-based artist cassandra c. jones has developed several new lightning-drawn pictures now on show at eli ridgway gallery in san francisco, california. the nature of this solo exhibition by jones is one in which the artist, again, reconfigures conceptual imagery from the interaction with online visual archives which seem to be endlessly expanding, in addition to a natural and instantaneously occurring pigment. jones has now completed a new series in which she assembles long-exposure images taken of electrical storms, then using small portions of the lighting bolts to sketch out geometric or animal shapes. each of the pieces have been developed as large-format ink jet prints in editions of two.

the digital photographic project brings together images of electrical discharge taken by both the artist and various anonymous individuals, all of whom have either posted their work on the internet or have sold their images to stock photography archives. jones gathers these cracking bolt occurrences in order to form geometric or organic shapes from a large assemblage of pictures. each lightning-sketched piece is a large-scale, bright drawing formed from initially abstract lines. focusing upon not only the shape of the lightning pictured, but also the quality of the line, jones appreciates the overlapping, bold, thin, or feathered quality of each bolt-formed character or symbol. for her newer pieces, ‘dog’ and ‘dog dog dog’, the artist brings together lightning bolt images picturing various qualities in both line and structure, shaping a singular form amidst the chaos and complexity of each electrical storm.

‘dog dog dog’, 2012 archival inkjet print 44 x 80 inches edition of 2