“THE USEFULNESS OF A POT
COMES FROM ITS EMPTINESS” LAO TZE
ALL
BUT THOUGHTS
All but Thoughts is a body of work developed from drawing as a ritual and somatic practice. Executed in charcoal on paper with dry brushes and without preliminary sketches, the drawings emerge through the pursuit of a meditative state, using techniques involving breath, voice, and bodily awareness. The process is not guided by formal or symbolic intention, but by the possibility of being present without interference. The artist does not plan; he seeks to be available for the image to appear.
COMMUNION
12/10/24
10×15″
The series is characterized by an extreme economy of elements: fields of tonal gradation, suspended central forms, vibratory cores that evoke organs, flames, seeds, or energy centers.
BECOMING UNITY
11/11/24
10×15″
Yet beyond any symbolic reading, the works operate as containers of presence. Each one seems to resonate at a particular frequency, as if fixing onto the surface an energy that is barely perceptible.
MY OWN PRIVATE SHADOW
04/28/24
18×24″
Over the course of two years, All but Thoughts has unfolded as a temporal journey. Earlier drawings often centered on structural forms—symmetries, internal diagrams, or body-like shapes—while later works gradually became more atmospheric, allowing space, texture, and vibration to take precedence over figure.
DAYDREAM
12/03/24
10×15″
Yet even in the pursuit of stillness, the mind may surface. Some drawings capture that internal dialogue, or subconscious imagery finding form in stains or gestures. This oscillation between presence and thought is not a departure from the method, but part of its truth.
One question runs through the entire project: How can the artist serve as a conduit? Tobón investigates the possibility of connecting with an inspiration that does not arise from thought, but from an unknown, ethereal place beyond the will. In this gesture, technique does not disappear, but is placed in service of perception. Drawing becomes a practice of listening, where the body leaves traces of what occurs before language. The project continues to expand, incorporating new techniques, supports, and scale—including large-format drawings—while remaining anchored to its core: exploring creation as an act of conscious surrender, allowing something—beyond will or thought—to take form.
