Dry erase markers are a staple of classrooms and corporate boardrooms, but one Northampton artist is using them to create works of art.
For Christopher Gilbert, the medium was more than a creative choice — it was a lifeline. His current show, “Linescapes,” on display at the Northampton Senior Center through April 30, is the culmination of several years spent reclaiming his identity from the confines of chronic pain. A reception will be held on Friday, April 10, from 5 to 7 p.m.
One collection, in the center’s coffee shop, is a series of standalone pieces; the other, in the Bistro, is a collection of what appears to be panels from a graphic novel. All of the pieces are on dry erase sheets, which are like sheets of paper that dry erase markers can write on, and they are made of stark, black-and-white line art that Gilbert describes as “a fine art medium combining elements of woodcuts, etchings and traditional representational graphite, yet with the smoothness of lines, as with a pen.” The drawings in the coffee shop, however, will be rotated out for works in color after Wednesday, April 1.
Gilbert first discovered dry erase art during a 10-year period of his life in which he was bedbound due to back pain.
“It was psychologically difficult, as you can imagine,” he said. “I needed something to counter the stress of the physical pain, the isolation, the loss of identity — so I turned to this.”
Gilbert was certain he didn’t want to create a “self-documentary” of his suffering. Instead, he leaned on his previous studio art experience. “Boy, am I glad I did,” he said, noting that he was largely self-taught. “It literally saved my life, because I would do these [drawings] almost every single day.”
When a difficult housing situation forced him to part with “books and books and books” of drawings he created while searching for a new place to live on short notice, being able to restart his artistic practice through the dry erase sheets gave him “a lot of relief.” It also helped that using dry erase markers was less physically demanding than using pencils.
Before discovering dry-erase sheets, Gilbert drew on a standard whiteboard, photographed his work and wiped it clean to start again. The sheets changed everything, allowing him to finally preserve his creations.
During his bedbound period, Gilbert spent a lot of time watching old movies on YouTube. Sometimes, when he saw a particularly interesting composition on screen, he’d pause the video and draw it. One of those compositions, featured in “Linescapes,” depicts a gaunt man in goggles and a hazmat suit, paired with a seemingly unrelated caption: a recipe for a drink made of one-third cup of orange juice, pomegranate or cranberry juice, and water.
That piece was created as a request to one of Gilbert’s personal care attendants (PCAs). He left it in his kitchen for them to find, so they’d know what he wanted for breakfast that day.
“I could have left a note for that, but I thought it’d be a lot more fun” to leave the drawing instead, he said.
Gilbert often integrated his PCAs into his work as a form of “communion.” The Bistro collection features an overarching plot about an “intergalactic force” keeping him alive, behind the scenes, he said. In one piece, a PCA named Bell is imagined as “Agent Sanders.” The mission, according to the caption, is to “keep Chris thinking that this is reality!” — all while delivering his usual toast and coffee.
Despite his love for the medium, they do have one downside: they’re very delicate. Even an accidental brush against one of his compositions can smudge it. He sees a deeper meaning in this instability, comparing his work to a mandala to illustrate “the delicacy of life and how things can end very quickly.”
That ephemerality is top-of-mind for Gilbert, who speaks candidly about his health; due to ongoing medical complications, he views his own lifespan as limited.
Still, he hopes that his works have an impact. In fact, he recently saw that happen already.
“Some gentleman was in here, and I hear him belly laugh,” Gilbert said. “And I was like, ‘That’s as good as a gold medal. It really is.’”
Admission to “Linescapes” is free. The Northampton Senior Center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
