Light Interplay

by Holly Newton Swift

For more than twenty years, Holly Newton Swift has journeyed to Cascade River Park in Lutsen, Minnesota, taking photographs of the waterfalls to use as reference materials for her large-scale charcoal drawings. Newton Swift has explained that she is drawn to waterfalls because of their inherent contradictions: they are revered as sacred spaces, beautiful, mesmerizing, yet they are also dangerous; they hold their form through their constant movement. Newton Swift captures the beauty of waterfalls in her subtle tones and elegant strokes and references its danger by the unexpected jagged edges and sharp lines throughout. She hints at the stability of the waterfalls by the grid that grounds the entire composition.