Daniel Eugene
The lines are so close together and so meticulously drawn that they buzz by proximity to one another. The effect is disorienting, like an optical illusion, a trick, a puzzle. It gets that much more intense when you see that New Haven-based artist Daniel Eugene’s drawings can be interpreted as a maze — a series of patterns that invite you to take a closer look, and slowly but surely, have your vision rearranged just a little.
“Seduction Of The Minotaur” — Eugene’s latest art show, running at Da Silva Gallery until Feb. 29, with an opening reception on Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. — aims to do something like that. “I am fascinated by the optical phenomena that result from line geometry and pattern,” Eugene writes in an accompanying artist statement. “As I experiment with the variety of ways to employ this spectacle of two-dimensional depth my interest continues to be how the visual effect impacts state of mind; how it encourages imagination and forces reverie. I am further interested in how surrendering to the imperfection of a hand-drawn rendering increases the activity of line, the vibration of pattern, and correspondingly, the psychic and psychological reflex of the viewer.”
Eugene has been drawing in this style for at least a decade, according to Gabriel Da Silva, who first met Eugene when the artist was a customer at his frame shop 10 years ago. Eugene’s pieces caught Da Silva’s eye then. “First of all, they were tiny. He had paid so much attention to a small piece of paper,” Da Silva said. “He did it with great conviction. He was learning and intrigued.” And, Da Silva sensed, Eugene “was extracted from reality when he was doing the pieces. You can’t be thinking about something else and doing this.”
So, 10 years ago, Da Silva asked if Eugene would be interested in doing a show at the Da Silva Gallery. Eugene agreed. And they struck up a working relationship that has led to the present show, a decade later. Over that time, Da Silva has seen Eugene’s pieces grow and change. They are larger now. The addition of color creates a certain kinship with West African and indigenous Australian art. Another piece incorporates rounded organic shapes into the labyrinths, the kinds of features that could be microscopic (think amoebas) or miles across (think a chain of lakes).
Other drawings partake of the kinds of running lines you might associate with tree bark, running water, yard, or seeds. In an unsettling touch, some of these appear to watch you back. Who are the creatures that might be peering out from Eugene’s mazes? And if they’re peering at us with the same intensity, how much does that make us part of the artwork?
Perhaps most beguiling are the pieces Eugene has printed on translucent fabric that hang in the center of the gallery. Stand on one side, facing the storefront, and Whalley Avenue, with its pedestrians, parked and passing cars, is transformed into a blurry pattern of light and shadow, recognizable but not quite, and obscured in the twists and turns of Eugene’s mazes.
“It’s almost like being in a parallel world,” Da Silva said of getting engrossed in Eugene’s art. And the effect Eugene is looking for lingers. Walking down Whalley Avenue afterward, you might find yourself blinking, the line patterns of Eugene’s drawings still printed on your retinas. You might have left the gallery, but you’re still lost in the artist’s labyrinths.
“Seduction Of The Minotaur” runs at Da Silva Gallery, 897 – 899 Whalley Ave., through Feb. 29, with an opening reception Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. Visit the gallery’s website for hours and more information.