Ideal City

Stephen Talasnik is unusual among contemporary artists because he works only with graphite on paper.  To create these subtle and spatially complex black-and-white drawings, he artfully manipulated his drawn images by selectively erasing, rubbing, and scraping the paper's surface.

Although they are intentionally ambiguous about time and place, these dusky, unpeopled, panoramic compositions were inspired by what Talasnik saw from his studio window when he lived in Tokyo, Japan.  The artist concentrated on human structures, such as scaffolds, tents, and viaducts.  In one drawing, a naturally asymmetrical ginkgo leaf contrasts with the orderly geometry of the cages used for baseball batting practice, a singular feature of Tokyo rooftops.