Joan Tanner's Drawings Explore Ambiguity Through Scale and Viewpoint at Locks Gallery

Joan Tanner's exhibition 'Persistent Contact, Works on Paper' at Locks Gallery from December 22, 2015 to January 30, 2016 showcases drawings that exploit the medium's inherent ambiguities. Unlike her large-scale installations, these works on paper employ line to suggest rather than define meaning, allowing multiple interpretations. Ambiguity of scale is central, as seen in 'Donotellmewhereibelong #32' (2014), where fine lines on blue chalk could represent geological formations or microscopic tissues. 'Endofred #3' introduces ambiguous viewpoints, with red oil stick splotches reading as aerial river views or grotesque animal forms. Tanner's marks blend mimetic and schematic elements, as in 'Donotellmewhereibelong #19' (2014), where ruled graphite lines suggest both perspective diagrams and nautical scenes. The drawings often feature isolated forms in voids, avoiding sci-fi illustration through compositional complexity. This graphic openness mirrors Tanner's sculptural process, exemplified in the assembly video of 'On Tenderhooks' (2006), where she explores multiple formal possibilities. The exhibition's varied orientations parallel the drawings' ambiguous scale and viewpoint, with omissions echoing their vast negative spaces. Tanner demonstrates persistence in both two and three-dimensional work, though drawings achieve greater openness than determined sculptures.