Stealth Softness
Ink and pencil on sewing tracing paper (c. 1960s)
2025

Stealth Softness depicts a cougar alongside seeds, a dark moon, and roses, emerging from and receding into expansive blank space.

The drawing is made on mid-century sewing tracing paper, marked by dotted perforations created by a metal tracing wheel once used to transfer patterns by hand.

These punctures register as a quiet record of pressure and movement. The composition relies as much on absence as presence, allowing negative space and subtle marks to carry meaning alongside the image.

Softness here is not passive but deliberate - an economy of gesture shaped by restraint, attentiveness, and time.

This is one of my favorite pieces.