
Tara Donovan is a sculptor and printmaker who has built a strong reputation through her use of simple everyday materials amassed in quantity to produce objects of beauty or at least great fascination. Here she drew a skeletal underdrawing on a board of soft material, something akin to foamcore. She and an assistant then pushed pins into the board, first following the drawn pattern, then filling in freely, gradually arranging them in interconnected circular clusters so that they resemble the patterns seen in fossilized coral, fields of wildflowers, or the finale of a fireworks show. The surface is noticeably tactile, for the pinheads have deeply embossed the paper. Lined with black ink, each of the small cavities absorbs light and allows no reflection—her blacks seem blacker than normal. Their contrast against the stark white paper is dazzling.