Mark Powell’s Pen Drawings Accentuate the Memories Etched into Faces and Ephemera

a monochromatic pen portrait of a woman braiding her hair on vintage book pages

All images © Mark Powell, shared with permission

In Mark Powell’s tender portraits, crinkled eyes and foreheads creased with age mirror highways and scrawled cursive notes. The artist (previously) pairs meticulously detailed drawings of older subjects with stamped envelopes, vintage book pages, and maps weathered from use, superimposing faces onto the worn, often collaged, substrates. Producing immense depth and shadow with the humble ballpoint pen, Powell likens the stories and experiences hidden in a face to those held within a letter or note from days gone by.

If you’re in Paris, you can see the artist’s solo exhibition Roads That Make Us through February 3 at Loo & Lou Gallery. Shop prints and originals on his site, and find news about upcoming shows, including at Mad24 in Madrid, on Instagram.

a monochromatic pen portrait of a man with a hat on a colorful map of ireland

a monochromatic pen portrait of a man rubbing his face on vintage envelopes

a monochromatic pen portrait of a man on vintage envelopes

a monochromatic pen portrait of nina simone on a map

left: a monochromatic pen portrait of basquiat on a map of new york: right: a portrait of a man on a london news sheet

a monochromatic pen drawing of four sets of legs on a map

a monochromatic pen portrait of a man on found drawings and notes

a monochromatic pen portrait of a woman on a vogue pattern envelope

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