Collographs in Acrylic Paint on Canvas

I did these three studies (each is approximately 12" x 18", acrylic on unmounted canvas) as examples for a project students from Solis Cohen Elementary school are doing with me as a Visiting Artist-In-Residence.

They have already seen examples of my work and done collograph and white line woodcut printmaking in class, and now they are working on their big project, which will be a 21' x 9' wall hanging of a world atlas. The wall hanging is broken up into four equal panels. They are finishing up using the grid transfer method to draw a basic outline of the continents onto the four panels.

Next will be painting in the backgrounds with acrylic paint, making collograph stamps with imagery inspired by patterns found in artwork around the world.

For these three studies, I drew a grid (each square being 3" x 3") and drew the same shape (an ammonite, just because I like ammonites.) Then I painted in the background and foreground areas (the left and middle one I painted in solid colors, the third uses a two-tone checkerboard pattern.) I made four 3" x 3" collograph stamps using chipboard, yarn, and craft foam, and then printed them onto the canvas by painting on the acrylic paint with a brush and pressing the stamp onto the canvas firmly with my hands. To prevent the background and foreground prints from overlapping, I masked off areas by laying down paper before pressing down the stamp.

I also did black outlines for two and no outline for one just to see how it looked. The students' wall hanging should be finished before winter break, and I'll post an image of the final work to this blog at that time.

Durham Press Artists At The Print Center

This week I checked out The Print Center's exhibit featuring renowned artists who have recently created works at Durham Press. The exhibition description reads:

...they have built a reputation for producing complex and often large-scale screenprints, woodcuts and mixed media projects.

Indeed, that is exactly what I found. In this post I feature works by three of the artists, each of whom incorporated the element of woodcut into these large, complex images, and in a similar way. Specifically, they each used printed wood grain to add texture. 

The first image here is by Chitra Ganesh. You can view this and more works by her at Durham Press here, and her professional website here. The title is Architects of the Future - City Inside Her. To me, this image and others in the series definitely had a futuristic feel. The woman's floating head and strange sort of goggles with cords that wind back to both an upsidedown city in the sky and ancient structure cause me to imagine that she is plugged into some kind of virtual reality. The use of the wood block is, of course, to create the texture in the sky, red and swirling, reminiscent of either sunset or sunrise, either of which allude to changes, endings and beginnings. Seeing such an obvious example of the low-tech wood block juxtaposed with an image of unfamiliar technology, I cannot help but think, too, of the German Expressionist Blue Riders, whose intent was to make works firmly connected to both the past and the future. 


Next up is a work by Mickalene Thomas. You can view this and other works she made at Durham Press here, and her professional website here. The title is Deux Femmes Noires. As it says, two black women are the subject, naked, sleeping, and comfortably entwined. I imagine that the collaged environment where they have been placed describes more of a psychological state than any literal surroundings. The bits and pieces illustrate grass, trees, and other plants, sky, perhaps also some water. Again, wood block printing is used to add the texture of the grain to an entire symphony of patterns, textures, and layers. Bits of cloth from the original photo remain, though here it suggests that the couple lies on a blanket which has been spread out in an open and natural setting. The pieces are mismatched, cut apart, separated by peach-colored lines, suggesting rapid movement, the passage of time, flicks of faulty memory. Despite the surrounding chaos and limited perception, this clearing seems a peaceful oasis. 


This third and final image I wanted to feature is by Beatriz Milhazes. You can view this and other works she made at Durham Press here. I found no professional website, but here is the Wikipedia entry on this artist. This print is called Snake Dreaming. I feel the variety of textures in the fields of wood grain run parallel to the asymmetry of the colorful form in the center. Where I saw flower pedals, I now see slithering ribbons, and hear the vibrations of strings. The whole image is so deceptively balanced and prettily designed, it would be easy to miss the mystery. The longer I look, the more I feel I am being drawn into a portal to the unknown.