Calm Chaos And Paper Beauty:
Robert Walden in conversation with Lara Kristin Lentini 

Art Papers, Spring 2008

For just over ten years, Robert Walden has been creating intricate, detailed line drawings, eerily reminiscent of the topography of the world's great, familiar cities. Graceful, spacious, elegant, the drawings capture the eye as maps, but when the viewer draws closer—thinking, perhaps, that this is Amsterdam, Paris, or London—she finds not a legible map, but a sort of ghostly vapor trail—an afterimage, mysteriously stripped of all identifying features.

Walden himself is like his drawings—quiet, but with a presence that manages to be both understated and powerful. On a recent cold day in Queens, where he has his studio, I spoke with the artist about his inspirations and sources, the advantages of abstraction, and how to draw calm out of chaos.

The interview continues>>