Elena del Rivero on Allyson Strafella

The beauty of Allyson Strafella’s carbon paper drawing process lies not only in the unique work of art that is its product, but also in the way her use of a simple and common duplicating device—carbon paper—calls to mind the most central elements of the art of drawing. Throughout human history—from the ancient times of the Altamira caves, through the Renaissance, to the present—carbon has been a primary tool for the creation of images and text. Using a typewriter, generally the means for creating duplicates with carbon paper, Strafella instead wounds the paper, allowing the carbon to bleed forth in images loaded with timeless
visual meaning.