Artist Statement
My imagery comes from being immersed in nature and art history, and an interest in creating a dialogue between simple forms and intricate patterns. In my prints I have explored moths, jellyfish, and even Italian Renaissance portraits, each subject chosen for its inherent beauty, delicate patterning, and vibrant hues. Close up and filling the picture plane, my subjects shift between realism and abstraction, at times dissolving into facets of color and marks vibrating across surfaces.
For more than a decade, I have been making reduction linocuts. Using a single piece of linoleum I create a multi-colored image by sequentially carving and layering colors, one atop another. This printmaking method is unforgiving, demanding that I balance chance with control to save the image. There is an energy that comes from these continual adjustments, often taking the piece far from the original plan. In a way, the image is always in a state of becoming until the final color is laid to paper.
My work is not about scientific illustration or realism, but about transforming subjects from nature and art into images that express my deep passion for the intense beauty that I see in the world.
The Process:
In reduction linoleum printmaking a multi-color print is created by using a single block of linoleum. After drawing an outline of the image onto the block, areas that will remain the color of the paper are carved away. Ink is then rolled onto the raised areas of the linoleum, paper is laid down on the inked block, and the back of the paper is rubbed to transfer the ink to the paper. The size of the edition is established at the point since once the next step of carving begins the previous step can no longer be printed. The block will be sequentially carved, inked, and printed - each new color atop all of the previous colors - until the print is completed. The overprinted colors are influenced by the underlying colors, therefore the artist must take into consideration the order of colors as she prints.