Lamentations and Exaltations 

An exhibition of drawings at Floyd Center for the Arts in Floyd, VA thru 10/4/2025

Trees have been good to me all my life. When I suddenly became visually impaired due to RVO (retinal vein occlusion) in both eyes in Fall 2022, the dark silhouettes of trees against grey skies were something I could still see. Their dignity, strength, and grace inspired me, and I began drawing them. Compressed charcoal sticks on white paper or canvas create high contrast marks that I can see.

Misting the charcoal with water lets me manipulate it on the surface. It becomes liquid and flows – risking loss of control. By brushing over the surface, I soften edges of lines and forms to resemble my new blurry way of seeing. This in turn suggests to me that perhaps our way of dividing the world into many clear separate things is an illusion, and that everything actually blends into everything else…

With my first charcoal drawings, I was interested in the beauty of trees and forests. An exhibit of these drawings, “Into the Trees”, can be seen at the Alexander Black House in Blacksburg, VA thru 11/29/25. “Lamentations and Exaltations” runs thru 10/4/25 at Floyd  Center for the Arts in Floyd, VA. These drawings were all done after I encountered a logged forest. As I walked in the remains, I felt that suffering and loss are part of life for trees too, and we share with them a persistent long–suffering resilience, and always the potential of rebirth.

Limited eyesight has led me to new ways of seeing and working and deeper visions of beauty. Along the way I’ve been finding ways of making sculptures more suited to how I see. Compared to my previous work, they are simpler and more gestural. Charring softens surfaces so that details dissolve into the whole.

After thees exhibitions the drawings can always be seen at my studio by appointment.

Charlie Brouwer, 2025