Chasm of Understanding

In his most recent series, Transits, McMullen explores the transformation of drawing through movement, fragmentation, and reassembly. Beginning with gestural marks made in Paintstik on newsprint, each drawing is torn apart and reconfigured as part of a layered monoprint. The original image is not replicated, but instead shifted and transferred through a process that both obscures and preserves its essence.

Breaking free from the traditional confines of the plate, McMullen expands his field of mark-making, embracing a larger and more intuitive space. This freedom to draw beyond the edge, to tear without hesitation, mirrors the emotional liberation found in letting go of control. The process becomes not just a method, but a metaphor: a way of understanding transition, change, and even relocation.

Printmaking here acts as a vehicle, carrying a drawing across surfaces, between states, through transformation. Using a material not typically associated with printmaking, McMullen introduces unpredictability and imperfection, honoring the raw beauty of what’s left behind. Each work stands as a record of movement, from destruction to image, from drawing to print, from origin to arrival.