Eugene Koch
"The underlying focus of my work is the use of line in its many
manifestations. I’m fascinated by how lines loosely layered
horizontally can evoke water, and if you flip that drawing 90˚ it is like the bark of trees. I love putting down a few random strokes and then connecting them in a meandering way to produce images that seem
like maps until you start looking at the negative space between those
lines. I love layering repeated simple lines that morph into a surprising solidity. I love how a simple line on a page can become a large group of sculptural lines stuck in a beach or field, bearing witness to the world around us. I love scratching deep lines into a surface with a triangular paint scraper and discovering what emerges from layers of solid color. I love drawing organic sensuous lines and then trying to analyze them with straight lines, and being surprised by the crazy optics that result. I am always amazed how using a line has taken me by surprise, how such lines lead to what lies beneath, to the core of things." Eugene Koch, Artist Statement