As in the Figurative series, Paperworks showcases Zoë Pawlak’s unyielding fascination with the human form. Abstracted from Pawlak’s imagination after 20-plus years of studying the nude, these figures spring forth from darkness and onto the page.

Hundreds of Paperworks pieces, created over the past 12 years, pull at this thread. Sketched with white chalk on white paper, the figures are invisible when viewed directly on. Step to the side, and the slight shadow reveals much more. In both light and darkness, these bodies exist; the revelation of this duality only comes upon stepping closer. 

These women are presented in states of repose or introspection, extending their arms in acts of vulnerability or protection. The figures, wavering between invisible and visible, between grey and light, are depicted with a tenderness — in a medium that has its own gentle vulnerability.