Artist Jillian Conrad is challenging conventional ideas about what drawing can be through a groundbreaking installation at the Menil Drawing Institute in Houston. Her exhibition, titled "What drawing can be: four responses," features five new sculptural works that blur the lines between traditional drawing and three-dimensional art.

Conrad, who has been creating thought-provoking art since the early 2000s, is primarily known for her sculptures. However, her artistic vision is deeply connected to the concept of drawing as animated energy. Her work explores the gap between what we see and how we understand and name it, creating connections across both time and space.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is "Cetus," a 2025 work that appears to float partially in the gallery space. The sculpture consists of colored glass orbs strung along thin metal necklace chains. Some sections of the chains are anchored to a chunk of asphalt on the ground, while others extend, drape, and collapse in curved patterns across the floor. The piece takes its name from and traces the pattern of the celestial constellation Cetus, referencing Greek mythology and early forms of drawing and mapping. Positioned in the center of the gallery, Cetus functions as a navigational tool, providing viewers with clues for interpreting Conrad's other works.

The chain structure, with its many thin but strong interlocking loops, is echoed and enlarged in another piece called "Letter." This work features a string net hanging from the ceiling, embedded with hand-formed pewter letters that are intentionally illegible. These letters spell out "I would gladly spend the night writing to you" in English on one side and French on the other. The net's drooping, human-like form and open structure can be interpreted as embodying both the poetry of language and space, while also representing a collapse between interior and exterior boundaries.

Many of Conrad's works draw inspiration from real historical events and materials that existed long before and will continue to exist beyond the gallery walls. "Letter" is based on an actual handwritten letter from a woman to her husband in 1758. This letter was one of 104 lost letters written to sailors during the Seven Years War. The original letters' ink and folded paper were precious and expensive at the time, much like drawing itself - they represent thinking and feeling made visible and touchable.

The sculpture highlights the types of contradictions and connections that Conrad finds fascinating. She sees these as examples of reciprocity with the world, where individual parts become complete wholes, or where something can be discovered precisely because it was once lost. In an interesting coincidence that Conrad only discovered after creating the works, the constellation Cetus would have been visible in the night sky to those 18th-century sailors.

These gaps between past and present, between one thing and another, are also apparent in a piece called "Fork." This work consists of a rose branch and a small piece of brass. The sculpture is somewhat absurd, a little strange, and even humorous - qualities that hint at Conrad's surrealist influences. As viewers walk through the gallery and change their position relative to the sculpture, a physical gap between the branch and the brass becomes apparent.

In this piece, Conrad uses what she calls the "psychic line" as a conceptual boundary, encouraging viewers to cross over into a world of imagination that goes beyond what they can actually see. During her artist talk, Conrad explained that this gap brings to mind, among other things, the section of a branch that is held in and hidden by a bird's beak. Although we cannot see this hidden part, we never doubt that it exists.

Conrad views "Fork" as a framing device for her entire installation - an elegant gesture that draws attention to the connections between looking, thinking, and making art.

The exhibition also includes another work called "Corse," created in 2025 using lead sheet, wood, graphite, and embossing powder. This piece, like the others, demonstrates Conrad's ability to transform everyday materials into profound artistic statements.

"What drawing can be: four responses" also features site-specific works by three other artists: Teresita Fernández, Tony Lewis, and Constantin Luser. The exhibition continues at the Menil Drawing Institute, located at 1533 Sul Ross Street in Houston, Texas, through August 10. The show was curated by Edouard Kopp, John R. Eckel Jr., and Kelly Montana.

Conrad's work challenges viewers to reconsider their understanding of drawing as a medium. By creating sculptures that embody the energy and conceptual framework of drawing, she expands the possibilities of what this fundamental artistic practice can become. Her installations invite audiences to think about the connections between visual perception, memory, history, and imagination, while also exploring the poetic potential of everyday materials and forgotten stories.

The exhibition represents an important contribution to contemporary discussions about the boundaries between artistic mediums and the ways in which traditional practices can be reimagined for new contexts and meanings.