Drawings by Thomas Colbert

ARTIST'S BIO
Thomas Colbert is a member of the American Institute of Architects and currently serves as Chair of the Houston Chapter’s Urban Design Committee. He is also on the faculty at the Gerald  D. Hines College of Architecture at the University of Houston where he teaches design and theory.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT
The drawings in this exhibition were made using various kinds of ballpoint pens. They are built up in layers of overlapping lines like strands of fiber or thread. Each drawing begins with an initial intention that evolves as work progresses, becoming unique to the individual piece. But, a few areas of enduring infatuation clearly inform all of these drawings. Among these the tension between the urge to draw without representing recognizable form and the desire to represent form, the visual, tactile, and imaginative qualities of accumulating lines, and the act of drawing as an object of contemplation all come to mind as drivers of the work. Chief among the infatuations that drives these works is a fascination with exploring the potentials of the line, the most fundamental intentional mark that can be made on a surface. Each line is a tracing of a personal history, a dance that creates a point of connection between author and viewer.