Milana Blackman is a contemporary artist working in Venice, California. Pen on paper is the signature. Black ink at a density most painters will not attempt. Drawings that run as large as eight feet, symbol stacked on symbol until a nude, a city, a bull, and a mandala occupy the same plane. The line on her studio wall is the method: the devil is in the detail.
She is an immigrant from Eastern Europe who came up through NYU and landed in Venice with a practice that is neither street nor academy. Original large works have sold from $25,000 to $150,000 and sit with collectors and a handful of celebrities. Limited-edition prints go out worldwide from milanablackman.com. A solo show in Venice made the local press for the obvious reason: the drawings do not let you glance.
The work is hours you can count. That is the question the series is asking. What happens when craft refuses to be casual.
Steve filmed Blackman in Venice: ink, scale, and a studio that treats patience as the medium.