Raquel Dowdy

Hot Basement
pencil, acrylic, collage, gold leaf, balsa wood
24 x 18 in.

Originally from Maryland, attained BFA from Temple University, Tyler School of Art in 1990. From Childhood, always loved pop-up books, and as an adult was influenced by Romare Bearden, Marcel Duchamp/futurist movement, Eldzier Cortor and Kathe Kollwitz. Also influenced by African musicians and dancers, from my years spent in Philadelphia. This cornucopia of “things” led to what I call my “Constructed drawings” because I draw and then try to “construct” pieces of this drawing up and off the board, using balsa wood. The subject matter of these pieces is usually movement, focusing on the movement of people, sometimes not necessarily on figures them selves but the way they moved in space. The way their figures make a “print” on the space around them when they move, a nod to futurism. This is best depicted in the West African dance classes I used to take, and the dancer’s “prints” made in the space around them.

© Raquel Dowdy