Birth of a Superhero: From Sheetrock Experiment to Dan’s Papers NYC Cover

When Birth of a Superhero appeared as Dan’s Papers NYC Edition cover art in January 2025, it brought an early turning point in Ian James Roche’s practice to a new readership. Shoshanna McCollum’s January 22 feature, labelled sponsored content by the publication, lets the artist revisit the making of his first pastel painting on sheetrock.

The decision to begin at a large scale

Roche describes starting the work in late October 2014 and finishing on December 1 that year. A visit to Dia Beacon had introduced him to an experience of scale and presence through Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings and Richard Serra’s steel sculptures. Rather than wait for a wall of his own to draw on, he chose an 8’ x 4’ piece of ½-inch sheetrock.

That choice brought an architectural material into the living room and made a large drawing surface possible. It was practical, but also expressive: the scale gave him room to follow a developing composition without reducing it to the proportions of a small study.

Discovering the character of soft pastel

The interview records an early change of material. Roche began in the upper-left corner with oil pastel, then switched to soft pastel when the first material did not feel right for the work. He considered removing the different-looking corner but ultimately kept it. The painting therefore retains a visible part of its own process of discovery.

Rather than work toward a fixed image, he followed lines, curves and colour relationships as they appeared. That makes the complete painting worth looking at slowly: its varied forms can be read as decisions made over time, not only as elements in a final design.

A title that arrived later

The name Birth of a Superhero came about a year after the painting. In the interview, Roche connects it with the discovery of a creative force he had not previously allowed himself to express fully. The superhero reference is about that personal transformation rather than a depiction of a familiar fictional character.

Ian’s own artwork story offers another account of the experience. The pastel collection shows where the practice developed afterward, and the Birth of a Superhero print page provides the details of an available print format. The cover feature is one entry point; the painting and the artist’s words give it depth.