"Veracity"
Artist's Information:
Beldue creates nudes in graphite on paper, an extension of one of the first exercises faced by art school students, something usually too basic to make the galleries. She speaks in shading, position and carefully chosen fashion accessories. There’s no color and no abstraction. The figure drawings are both photorealistic and surreal, looking light and effortless and unbelievably intricate at once. The process behind them is difficult to fathom, especially when Beldue mentions that each piece takes an average of 40 to 60 hours to complete. Some drawings have the total work time noted beside her signature.
“I get freakishly paranoid the closer they are to done,” Beldue said, explaining that as she reaches the final hours of work on a particular piece, she won’t go near it with anything that might smudge or spill, a habit she picked up after several bad experiences.
This makes sense, considering that her final products are as close to flawless as a human can create. Proportion is true, shadow is evocative but natural, and she gets a lot of drama out of the raised bumps of a spinal cord or a cameo-like glimpse of decolletage. “I love the softness of the technique,” Beldue said, describing her choice of medium. “It’s a pretty good challenge for me. If it got easy, it wouldn’t be any fun.”
With her focus on the graceful curves of the female form and a touch that’s light and gentle but very assured, one more strange thing about Beldue’s work arises, in relation to the art you’ll find in the Short North. There are always exceptions, but it often falls into two categories: sharp and challenging or beautiful and bland. Beldue’s work is undeniably gorgeous and somehow comforting, but there’s an edge there that comes from the artist’s approach. She uses the lengthy creation process as a stress-busting tool, an outlet for her own excess baggage, but also hopes viewers can experience a similar unburdening.
The artist honed her technique at Columbus College of Art and Design, and has recently returned to her alma mater as an adjunct professor.