Colony exemplifies Donovan’s systematic investigation of what happens when commonplace industrial or other utilitarian materials are accumulated in such a mass as to produce distinctive optical and structural effects. Consisting of literally tens of thousands of sawed-off, eraserless pencils, bunched and stood on end on the floor, Colony can shift in aspect quite surprisingly, depending on one’s perspective. In a low-angle view, the work might seem to be an encrustation of lichens or even an animal-skin rug. From a more elevated viewpoint, the piece suggests a contour map of an island, something organic spreading beneath the sea, or simply the Borough of Brooklyn on one’s final approach to Laguardia Airport. Gathered into a mass, what registers is not the individual pencil stubs but a collective topography. This very early work anticipates concerns that would become central to her subsequent practice — such as Untitled (Paper Plates), Untitled (Glass) and Untitled (Toothpicks) in the Aardt Collection, which demonstrate the same principle across different materials. The paper plates, like the pencils, have an organic presence, as though growing and expanding. In contrast, the broken glass cube as well as the toothpicks cube create complex internal geometries.
