Drawings By Joyce Sampson 


Robert Sievert 

 











1. Joyce Sampson: "Two Figures"










2. Joyce Sampson: "Figure And Plant"










3. Joyce Sampson: "Seated Figure"










4. Joyce Sampson: "Still Life"






 
 


When I saw these photographs of Joyce's drawings I was 
excited.  They contained so much of the material we worked 
on in Nick's classes.  The Hofmann technique is so apparent 
in this work.  She had done them thirty years ago 
after we had studied with Nick Carone and when she was
drawing independently at the 14th Street Drawing Studio.



One can see the construction lines that form the basis of 
each drawing.  We were taught to divide the paper with the 
main axis of the plane.  Once the main divisions of the 
compositions were found one could begin the process of 
establishing the interaction of volume and negative space. 
Line was seen as an expression of this interaction. 



One can see this process at work in Joyce's double figure 
drawing (1). Two models sit adjacent to each other on two 
separate planes.  The space beneath the reclining figure 
becomes a defining element of the picture.  It moves beneath 
the figure into the depth of the space and returns to 
support the seated figure.  There is a dichotomy between the 
depth and the flatness of this area.  Clearly it moves back 
into depth and yet it can be read as perfectly flat to the 
picture plane. It is possible also to read a large volume of 
space between the back plane of the picture that occupies 
the area beyond the reclining figure and the rectangular 
corner in the lower right of the drawing.  This volume 
becomes more apparent as you study the drawing and is what 
Hofmann called the "interval" which was the expanding part 
of a picture.  Hofmann felt that a picture had to be 
expansive and the picture like the universe was constantly 
expanding and contained great energy if properly done. 



Again, Joyce's still life drawing (4) is very instructive in 
illuminating the theory of plastic space.  In the drawing a 
complicated arrangement of platforms, draperies, plants and 
objects is rendered in three-dimensional space, but as a 
flat design.  There is a flow of movement through and around 
objects and the negative space takes on the dual nature of 
volume and flat area on the picture plane.  One can see the 
same spatial themes in the work of Picasso and Gorky. 



These drawings, while not student work, reflect very closely 
the process undertaken in Carone's classes, the absolute 
adherence to the Hofmann pedagogical technique.  They were 
done in the years following our student work with Nick 
Carone, around 1965 or 1966.