"Abstraction" (one-eyed beastie)

4 layer reduction

11.25" x 15.5"(image) 15.5" x 21.5" (paper)

Oil-based inks on Masa paper

Edition of 4

Available for purchase here

I had a block and I wanted to make a print. Nothing in particular came to mind, so I made this abstraction. I think it looks a bit like a bird with teeth eating a seed. Or a squooshy, one-eyed beastie from an alien world. Parts of it also remind me of peacock feathers. And I keep returning to associations with leafy jungles and vines, probably because of the tropical colors. Other people have seen "a cut open piece of fruit" and "vagina with legs."

I'm too close to it to go beyond a literal and representational interpretation right now. Reading anything else into it feels contrived. As far as my intentions went, I wanted to make shapes and lines that complimented the knots and grain of the wood. I wanted to play with gradations and overlapping of certain colors. Making this was fun. Making art should be fun.