Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by activity during the night. This exhibition of new work by Roger Mudre begins with the most basic and universal symbol, the circle. Since June of 2007, the artist has drawn complex, tangled variations of the circle into a sketchbook late at night, every night, 32 books to date. The practice, in his words, “has become prayer-like substituting mark-making for words.” Earlier this year, he began to use the nighttime sketches as the basis for finished artworks, rich in their sense of space and depth of feeling.
The concept of infinity is the inspiration for the circular imagery. The images created, reference microscopic worlds, cellular growth, auras, and the cosmos. The square format of the finished work allows for a field of pattern that continues equally in all directions, amplifying the idea of infinity. This exhibit will focus on Mudre’s process of taking the original nighttime sketches and then developing them into a variety of finished pieces. Original sketchbooks, completed drawings, and paintings will be included, each stage both a unified whole and a record of his artistic journey.
