Spooling out a single, flourishing line of loops and cantilevered curves, the drawings depict first impressions deconstructing body language of first contact and giving shape to the liminal space that occupies the center of this kind of encounter. Spontaneous, graceful, and precise, Tragash’s observations of people in public spaces grasp the simultaneous cinch of self-editing and yo-yoing spontaneity that styles the frisson of two bodies meeting for the first time.
The suppleness of Tragash’s line conveys a range of expression as it coils down and around each figure’s axis. It delineates form into shapes of emotion, while also observing the alignment of exterior presentation and the internal experience of a passerby. In pairs, and in groups, the figure’s personalities possess different strengths of polarity that attract or repel each other. A number of reactions and conversations emerge from the order in which these interactions are viewed. More are revealed when the drawings are rearranged by the reader.
First Impressions also implies the single line narrative we seek in people we meet for the first time. It is this quick draw of apprehension that helps us determine our feelings for them. In a single gesture, Tragash is able to perceive first impressions as both specific and universal, helping us see ourselves, and others, in her intuitive grasp of strangers observed from a park bench.
