Ellen Heck, Traces of Ourselves

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ELLEN HECK Traces of Ourselves


Cecilia as Frida Forty Fridas Series Woodcut and dry point, 2011, 15 x 11 inches Cover: Kamisuki Color Wheels Series Mixed media, 2016, 59 x 44 inches Opposite detail: Sketchbook, #1420 Mixed media on paper, 2014, 19 x 13 inches


BAKER SCHORR FINE ART CONTEMPORARY SERIES

ELLEN HECK Traces of Ourselves

MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY

Ally Village 200 Spring Park Drive, Suite 105 Midland, Texas

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Traces of Ourselves

Twelve Years of Artmaking I fell in love with prints before I learned how prints are made. There is magic in the texture, color harmony, and relief of a print—in a tonal field that darkens at the edges and reveals an intricate woodgrain web, or a palette of seven colors emerging from only three, or a black line that rises from the paper as it thickens. I fell in love with printmaking when I learned that these effects come naturally with the process. However, to let them emerge, a printmaker must be willing to work almost entirely on an object that is not the artwork itself, but its origin. This matrix, either a metal plate, wooden block, or sanded stone will carry all or part of a print’s genetic code scratched, carved, or etched into its surface. It is the material with which the printmaker becomes most intimate—sometimes working for months into its mirrored surface—and yet, it is traditionally destroyed once an edition is complete. A print is a reflection. It is a literal reflection of an object inked onto paper and also a reflection of an indirect process which, not unlike the search for happiness, yields its rewards most reliably as byproducts. Printmedia is a language specifically suited to the exploration of the human experience because in some sense, we are all perpetual printmakers, constantly leaving traces of ourselves on the world around us—whether footprints, fingerprints, or less visible impressions on the lives of others. Protein permutations of our parents, we are also prints ourselves, impacted by the daily life with which we come in contact. A copper plate is a single matrix that can be printed differently yielding a variety of results. In the same way, we are physical beings with a set of genetic and circumstantial givens, but we also have free will and the ability to change ourselves and others. In this retrospective show, through several print projects and series that focus on repetition of form, I have explored specific questions about identity—its creation, variability, persistence and change—by combining subject matter and thematically resonant printmaking techniques. It may be true that prints are only reflections of their missing origins, but thankfully, they offer infinite angles from which to reflect.

Ellen Heck

Ellen Heck is a printmaker, mixed-media artist, and author living in North Carolina. She studied philosophy at Brown University and printmaking at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. As a long-term artist-in-residence at Kala Art Institute, she began a practice within which to explore abstract ideas through tangible print processes and representational metaphor. This is her first solo show at Baker Schorr Fine Art and her first retrospective show collecting work from twelve years of artmaking. Karla and Zoe Plus a Century Series Woodcut and drypoint, 2009 22 x 15 inches Opposite page: Ellen Heck, American, b. 1983 5


The Inking Table Place and Process Series Woodcut, drypoint and aquatint, 2020 24 x 22 inches

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Alice Woodcut and drypoint mounted on panel, 2014 24 x 8 inches

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The Crocheted Scarf Woodcut and drypoint, 2020 16 x 16 inches

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The Screen and the Wheel Woodcut and drypoint, 2020 16 x 16 inches

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Girl with a Heart Shaped Earring Woodcut & drypoint, 2014 22 x 15 inches

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Folded Woodcut & drypoint, 2014 22 x 15 inches

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Wood

Woodcut & Drypoint

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22 x 15 inches

Iris Writing a Letter

Woodcut, Drypoint & Hand Painting, 2016/17 15 x 11 inches

Mia Wearing a Perfo

Aquatint & 15

Iris Writing a Letter Woodcut, drypoint & hand painting, 2016/17 15 x 11 inches

Bethany Wearing a Perforated Mobius Strip as a Hat Woodcut, drypoint & hand painting, 2016/17 15 x 11 inches

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Audry Wearing 36 Interlocking Mobius Strips as a Hat Woodcut, drypoint & hand painting, 2016/17 15 x 11 inches

Mia Wearing a Perforated Mobius Strip as a Hat Aquatint & drypoint, 2016/17 15 x 11 inches

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Carolina Color Wheels: Cold or Warm to the Touch Drypoint, mixed media on panel (9), 2017 50 x 50 inches

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Birdwatching Through Spectroscopic Lenses: Great Crested Flycatcher and a Silver Chain Drypoint, watercolor, acrylic on panel, 2016 44 x 44 inches

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Carolina Color Wheels: The Table Between 9:30 and 9:45 Drypoint, mixed media on panel, 2017 44 x 44 inches Opposite page:

Sketchbook #135 Mixed media on paper, 2013 19 x 13 inches 17


Sketchbook, #1421 Mixed media on paper, 2014 19 x 13 inches

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Sketchbook #1413 Mixed media, 2014 19 x 13 inches

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Mรถbius Twist at the Well Oil on panel, 2019 36 x 36 inches

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Costa Surface at the Well Oil on panel, 2020 36 x 36 inches

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Golden Klein Bottle at the Well Oil on panel, 2020 36 x 36 inches

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Julia Set Woodcut & drypoint, 2014 22 x 15 inches Back cover: Threshold Woodcut & drypoint, 2014 22 x 15 inches

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