* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
Jim Denevan makes freehand drawings in sand. At low tide on wide beaches Jim searches the shore for a wave tossed stick. After finding a good stick and composing himself in the near and far environment Jim draws– laboring up to 7 hours and walking as many as 30 miles. The resulting sand drawing is made entirely freehand w/ no measuring aids whatsoever. From the ground, these drawn environments are experienced as places. Places to explore and be, and to see relation and distance. For a time these tangible specific places exist in the indeterminate environment of ocean shore. From high above the marks are seen as isolated phenomena, much like clouds, rivers or buildings. Soon after Jim’s motions and marks are completed water moves over and through, leaving nothing.
In 2005 Jim Denevan had his museum debut the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California. Also in 2005 Jim Denevan’s work was shown at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, California.
"His work shows beautifully how one art piece can be experienced in multiple ways. It makes me reflect upon how the surrounding world change depending on who you are or in this case, where you are. There can be multiple truths.The destructive forces of nature shows that nothing is forever. Each of his pieces, first growing and then dying, from the force of water, acting like a giant eraser. Denevan inspires me and his work grows, literally."
"An artist who spends countless hours on works of art that are designed to be fleeting and temporary, I have great respect for Denevan's drawings. I find the combination of his minimal materials and the shear scale of his works inspiring."
