September Vhay

Carbon plus paper: the simple equation that yields a charcoal drawing; the simple equation that September Vhay makes transcendent in her summer exhibition, Essence. By her hand, a leopard appaloosa becomes a massive study in graphic abstraction, each spot a meditation on shape and subtlety. Dark patches, the result of pressing hard on the page, send sprays of charcoal down the paper, scatterings she leaves as subtle evidence of her process.Sans color, the paint horse becomes a homage to composition and value—formal characteristics often overshadowed by their flashy counterparts, color...