"Permanent ink creates permanent fluctuations in every line, documenting my breath, heartbeat, mood, and state of mind, like a seismograph." - Chris Whitefield
Chris Whitefield is an artist and carpenter based in Bolinas, CA. He grew up in Bolinas, as well as parts of Mexico throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and returned to live permanently at the age of thirty. His greatest influence for the stunningly tight line work of his intricate drawings comes from his skill as a carpenter. He builds off the first foundation lines, challenged by the tension between lines and space and exacting fit. Not allowing for mistakes, Whitefield draws in ink for both for his geometric work and figurative art.
He describes his line drawings as a seismographic record of how we are always in motion; breathing, heartbeat, mood, and overall state of mind create unavoidable fluctuations in hand-drawn lines. His latest focus has been to draw as if it is a form of knitting by stacking alternating rows of open and closed gaps of line to create patterned drawings. Two of Whitefield’s drawings have been acquired by the Achenbach Graphic Arts Collection of the De Young Museum in San Francisco.