MY
WORK CAREY NELSON | ISSUE N.1 | 2015
ARCHITECTURE CLEMSON GRAD SCHOOL ARTWORK DRAWING AND PRINTMAKING
MY WORK CAREY NELSON | PORTFOLIO | 2015
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GRAFT
Done in collaboration with Landscape Architecture student Sheida Moine, GRAFT was a creative inquiry sponsored by McKibbon Hotel Group for the purpose of redisigning Asheville’s famous BB&T Building as a cutting edge hotel and cultural landmark for downtown Asheville. McKibbon Hotel Group and a committee of Asheville architects selected GRAFT as an award winner for design excellence.
infoPLACE
Done in collaboration with Architecture student Brian Betz, infoPLACE reimagines the library as a living fabric to help stitch together Washington, IL in the wake of a destructive tornado.
Haiku House
A poetic exploration of walls, Haiku House examines traditional living arrangements and pushes them to reasoned extremes.
Tesselation
Sponsored by the Precast Concrete Institute, Tesselation finds maximum utility for minimal material.
Abstraction//Visualization
A theoretical exercise for purposes of rationlizing abstraction and developing visualization techniques.
Drawings: See More
Drawing was my introduction to fine art, and it remains my favorite form of visual expression because of its intimacy.
Graphic Design
Graphic Design is the creation of compelling visual heirarchy. These are some of my favorite personal creations for friends.
Printmaking: Pressing Paper
Printmaking beautifully counterpoints the immediacy of drawing with longer processes to create multiples of the same work no less intimate if the hand is still present.
CAREY NELSON
About me
A little about me. . . I am a communicator, and I like to work through design, art, theatre, music, and leadership. This portfolio is a collection of some of my visual work mostly from the past couple years while getting my Master of Architecture degree at Clemson University. I want this portfolio to be fun for you, thus: a magazine rather than a stuffy architecture book. I personally love stuffy architecture books, but hopefully this format is more fresh and light. As I write this, I am deep in my comprehensive studio working on a project that is very dear to me: a performing arts center. Throughout my life I strive to make each new project my best (it’s easy in graduate school going from 0 to 60 in three years), and I wish I had the project done to show you. That said, I hope within these pages you’ll see my desire for excellence, my fresh approach towards each new project, and my reaching for something beyond us. Carey Nelson
Pressure (2014) I made this 7’ tall drawing during a whirlwind 24 hour workshop with legendary artist Clive King. It now resides in the home of a passionate art teacher who happened to be in the market for a 7’ tall drawing.
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For the Future GRAFT might not be feasible today, but maybe tomorrow. As a prototype GRAFT could have a radical impact on Asheville’s development through the way residents come to understand the impact architecture has on their lives and their city as a part of the region.
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Panoramic Views
Dense Forest
GRAFT
integrating and revitalizing Asheville, North Carolina is a city rich with fantastic local scenery. There is a palpable atmosphere brought by the diverse cultures, playful architecture, surrounding Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests, and the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains. Until now the BB&T tower has loomed over the city imposing its modernist profile on the lazy skyline. GRAFT aims to reclaim the BB&T tower as a building completely rooted in Asheville and no longer at odds with its sense of place and heritage. GRAFT draws inspiration from both the Pisgah National Forest and Blue Ridge Mountains to bring nature back to where it once was in the city. The harsh rectangular shell of the building will be become the canvas on which gardens grow that benefit quality of life through cleaner less polluted air, provide nicer views both from and of the building, facilitate better water conservation, and elevate an overall better state of mind for those in and nearby. Gardens break from the ground and climb the building to show growth and change. The seasons leave their mark on the city not just through the occasional planted tree but through the building itself as it responds to the climate shifts
and ages with the city. In summer the building is an exuberant icon of life under the sun. The building shows its passions more colorful with the cooling autumn, and rests through the winter only to break forth with life again in the spring. The reflective glass of the building crown provides incredible panoramic views and reflects the breathtaking nature around it. At night the building lights from inside. While the building will be a great place to live or visit, it will also respond to the city below it in a positive way that benefits all who are nearby. This was a collaborative project with graduate Landscape Architecture student Sheida Moine. The project benefitted from her expertise with plants and knowledge of vertical growing systems. All work was collaborative, and credit is shared for rendered images and diagrams. GRAFT was part of a creative inquiry sponsored by McKibbon Hotel Group and Clemson University. A panel of judges comprised of McKibbon executives and Asheville architects awarded GRAFT a Certificate of Design Excellence as well as a monetary prize.
The BB&T Building as it has previously existed.
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Asheville between Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests
Changing seasons drastically influence GRAFT. This diagram (compiled from a selection of only plants native to Asheville) shows the building’s evolution over the course of a year. A selection of evergreen plants assures that the building will not become “naked� during the winter and will, in fact, even retain some color. However, it is important to the honest voice of the project that the building reflect the changing seasons and respond to winter in step with the March
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June
BB&T Site between Pritchard Park and Pack Square
BB&T site completing these two axes
rest of nature both in the city and in the national forests surrounding it.
artist to design the planting arrangement for a year or a citywide festival in which Asheville residents and tourists are given A perhaps hidden talent of the building, the ability to plant on a panel themselves however, is that not only will the building to have it installed at the conclusion of change with the seasons, but the building the festival. I feel that part of the power can reflect local culture and events. Imag- of the project is its facilitation of commuine the hotel sponsoring an international nity and culture building. September
December
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Biowall GRAFT utilizes a combination of a more standard living wall arragement with newer bio-filtration wall technology. Living walls are vertical surfaces that facilitate plant growth. Bio-filtration walls are often used on a small scale and take the living wall a step further by using the plant material as air and or water filters. GRAFT calls for a large scale application of what we consider Modular Living Biowalls over much of the skin of the building. The biowall is modular to allow for easy removal of individual panels for maintenance or replanting. The modularity also allows for many design options as far as how to configure planting arrangements. The panels are maintained or removed externally using the same equipment a window cleaner would use. Soil and growing base for the plants is held in the vertical system by a mesh and the developing root systems of the plants themselves. Behind the growing base is an air space that feeds directly into the HVAC systems for the building. The air filtering through the plant systems provides the hotel and condos with cleaner air. Air pollution is a major issue to many Asheville residents, and GRAFT could serve as a prototype system to combat this issue. Water circulation is especially important to the health of this project. GRAFT’s roof converts the old BB&T building into a full Blue Roof dedicated to water collection and servicing the irrigation system built into the modular living wall panels. Intermittently up the wall pump and collection systems will maintain the flow of water through the entire wall.
CO2
Blue Roof water conservation
natural noise barrier
O2
natural air filtration
thermal insulation
Beyond these active components, the Biowall serves as a tremendous insulator providing hotel residents with much needed noise reduction (especially closer to street level) and helpful thermal benefits for maintaining pleasant conditions inside no matter how windy it gets at the city high point.
CO2
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Site Plan
Dozens upon dozens of sketches were a part of the conversation and design process for what finally became the biowall. In the end, simplicity and a unified design for the entire building won out over a more complicated, multifaceted design.
Vacation Rental/Condo Level Floor Plan
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Hotel Level Floor Plan
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MY WORK CAREY NELSON | PORTFOLIO | 2015
library without books
infoPLACE This project took a more circuitous route than perhaps any I’ve worked on. The goal was a conceptual overhaul of the library as we know it today. Paper books were out; digital everything was in. A futurecast, the project finish line was somewhere just beyond physically achievable with today’s technology. At the onset of the project I was acutely aware of a tornado that ravaged Washington, IL, the town where my grandparents live. Once a small town, Washington burgeoned in the past ten years as many new tech companies situated themselves there. On November 17, 2013 an EF4 tordnado cut a swath across the town’s main road and through several residential neighborhoods. I saw an opportunity to use infoPLACE to consider how designers of civic projects (in this case a library) could implement technology and good design as part of a rebuilding, restitching if you will, endeavor in a hurting place. 10 InfoPLACE, although using Washington
as a test bed, could function in many places with urban and suburban applications seeming to be optimal. Originally referred to as DandeLibrary, the project pushed a contrast between the organic and the digital. The dandelion itself served as a model for life cycles of the project and methods of distrubution of the library cards. InfoPLACE was part of a collaborative studio. Credit for the videos, building design, drawings, and physical model is shared with my partner Brian Betz.
Your Key
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less waste The library card seems like a waste of space–just another thing taking up room in your wallet. We began with reimagining the library card before thinking about the structure. To make the card valuable again we changed the library card into a personal wifi hotspot with direct access to all the library’s content waiting for you in the cloud.
Grow
For retrieving new cards and accessing physical library locations terminals were required. Eventually the terminals became capsules in the ground from which new cards could be plucked.
Lifecycle
As a functioning electronic device, the library card must be powered. Rather than making what was once a free piece of plastic an expensive gift requiring cables and plugs, the cards were designed to be recyclable through libary infrastructure.
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Stop Motion Videos
Lofty Ideas Not making perfect sense? We put together some videos to help explain the concept. The QR code at the bottom of the page will link you to the one such video. The idea of the video came about because the concepts we were dealing with did not call for a specific building that could be described easily with plans and sections. The physical structures associated with infoPlace were originally designed to be a sort of future tech pod that sprung from the ground and configured itself into shapes and colors based on the card fed to the terminal associated with the pod. Individual’s library cards would all be coded with a signature unique to that individual so that even as they recycled their cards and retrieved new ones their data would follow them. As the project progressed to the end of the studio, permanent structures became something of a academic cultural necessity. InfoPlace then grew from something that burst from the ground to create light, transient structures to a space embedded in the landscape and facilitating public interaction.
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Good Fences
Scale 1/8” = 1’
Haiku House “ The wall is not that The barrier between two But connection made
I had suspicions that poetry is useful in many situations and important for human development, but three years ago I hadn’t much considered the idea of designing a house with a poem. Confronted with the idea that “good fences make good neighbors” I set about to write my haiku. Haikus are often much misused by the non-Japanese speaking, but I did my best to stay true to the guide that haikus are meant to show transition or contrast.
wall is good for separating things what if it separated entire concepts. What if the wall is more extreme than just a single fence and the entire house is split in two? Can separation lead to closer interaction, and can the sum of all these elements amount to more than any one used alone?
More than anything my haiku (and by extension my house) seeks to try Frost’s addage and prove his conclusion. If you’re reading this and you want to build this Thus my examination of fences turned to house let me know and we can get some subverting the notion of walls. Can a floor more conclusive answers to all of these be a wall? What about height itself? If a questions together!
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All of my Kirigami models floated. I appreciated the idea that the paper used the Kirigami to elevate and separate itself My investigation began, as usual, on from the plane that it was once trapped paper. Instead of drawing on the paper in. It took a form with its own agency though I was cutting the paper using the floating above what it used to be rather than rising from it or folding back into its Japanese technique Kirigami. Similar to old self. More than that, the new forms the folding techniques of Origami, Kirigami pushes the art further by utilizing a always tried to escape the edge of the single connected piece of paper without paper laterally looking for another degree addition or subtraction. Unlike traditional of transition. All of these ideas carried directly into the design of the Haiku House. Origami, cutting of the paper is allowed.
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RE
F
W/D
PRIVATE
PUBLIC
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In plan, the Haiku House has a strong separation between the private living spaces of the family that resides there and the public living quarters that are designed to be more transparent and easily opened. There are no internal walls in the public area, and the external walls roll open to spill the occupiable space onto the elevated porch. Here the elevation (or potentially the floor itself ) becomes the wall. The “main� entry to the house directly at the top of the stairs all but disappears so that a friend or guest may come directly into the living space through the open wall.
The house is made to be very energy efficient--especially in the public living area. Extra windows provide a comfortable amount of direct gain heat to be stored in the concrete slab floor. Cross ventilation is easily acheived when the walls are open, but if they should need to be closed operable windows above them may open. The building is sheathed with insulated structural panels for a clean, modular aesthetic as well as excellent additional insulation.
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MY WORK CAREY NELSON | PORTFOLIO | 2015
Roof to Wall
Tesselation This project was completed as part of a cretive inquiry sponsored by the Precast Concrete Institute. Its goal was to investigate methods of precast concrete construction. Taking the idea of tesselated shapes, I structured my project as a geometric study in search of efficient forms and patterns. The major strength of my folded panel is its ability to work as a canopy piece or as a wall or barrier all with only one type of panel. In canopy use a special cradle piece is provided for each panel. When two pieces are used together they become structurally stable and may function as a small booth or something like a bus stop. More units may be placed together to create increasingly larger structures. As a wall the panel creates a dynamic sculpture suitable to be noise barriers, retention walls, or stand alone objects. In any capacity the panels are welded 20 together at their joined corners via steel
plates cast into the concrete panels. The welding plates allow for a seamless transition from canopy usage to wall as shown in the example of a train station platform above. Over all, my goal for this project was creating an efficient form for making interesting spaces by saving space.
space MAKING space SAVING
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Taking Shape
Form finding began with geomteric exploration shown on page 22. After the square was settled as the basis for the tesselation then I began to refine the shape. I needed thin panels to function as a surface, and the panels needed to have great structural integrity to span distances while only supported on their corners or edges.
I took time to speak with several members of the Precast Concrete Institute regarding the best way to create these panels. There was some disagreement among the members, but my initial idea of creating a vertical mold with a mechanical press seemed to hold the most validity. A vertical mold holds an advantage over a horizontal mold in that the top and bottom surfaces (although thin) would be horizontal. A horizontal mold
strategy has the disadvantage of needing a suspended mold on the top face to acheive the double sided shape. Within the next few years however, I would expect that 3D printing with concrete will become the most efficient option for creation of the panels. The shape can support itself in an upright position as it is formed, and several pieces could be printed at the same time.
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Before I landed on the square panels I commited time to investigating shapes and patterns that interested me. I started with equilateral triangles and looked for major patterns to emerge. I played with a triangular grid that could facilitate interlocking pieces. While interesting forms could be built this way, strict tolerances were needed, and model making with concrete proved difficult.
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I investigated circles next looking for ways in which they could be combined. I developed another set of interlocking pieces in which three pieces were locked together by a fourth identical piece acting as a key. This grouping seemed promising and could be repeated easily, but ultimately it did not seem that concrete was the best material suited for this usage. I see promise however, in this system being used in some sort of suspension wall or shade.
Explore
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As a canopy two panels are required to be structurally stable as the one leg of each cradle would combine with the adjacent to create three legs total. The folded plate provides its own structural support without the use of coffering.
and Play
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MY WORK CAREY NELSON | PORTFOLIO | 2015 When four panels are placed together with the low corners grouped in the center (or if groups of more than four are placed together) a dish condition will occur. This creates an excellent opportunity for water collection. An option for the join condition of the four cradle legs is to create piping that can drain the water down the column to plumbing in the floor.
When configured with low corners meeting high corners the panels will not collect water, but instead provide excellent natural light into the structure. Glazing could be used to prevent water intrusion. Heat island is a concern for this type of structure, but Solachrome™ admixtures reduce heat island with LEED compliant SRI values ranging 30-60 (a value of 29 is minimum).
Matching plates form a cradle for the canopy pieces to naturally fall into. Canopy welding plates join the panels to the column as well as panel to panel (for use as wall panels). Cradle legs can then be welded to base plates in the floor. Alternatively, exposed bolts could be used to secure pieces together then covered by plates or poured concrete.
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CAREY NELSON
I considered modeling to be a large component of this project. As well as making scale casts of the plates and cradle supports via 3D printed molds I also created a number of 3D printed prototypes for reviewers and myself to experiment with. In addition to these small models I created a full scale model of the corner condition where the plate meets the cradle. I 3D printed pieces to serve as the welding plates then cast them into the concrete pieces. The model functions well as a showcase for how clean the joint is.
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MY WORK CAREY NELSON | PORTFOLIO | 2015
Rationalization A purely theoretical project, this was my first round of 3D modeling with Rhinocerous. Beginning with a basic rectangle, the goal was to create compelling abstract spaces then rationalize them to a degree. A physical model accompanied the digital exploration.
Abstraction// Visualization
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This exercise dealt with two major facets: the contrast of a hard box with fluid geometry and a degree of tectonic post-rationalization. Floors were added along with vertical and other horizontal structural members to give scale.
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The physical model utilized 3D printing to represent the amorphous shell that defines the interior space. The entire model is set in a concrete base which transforms the model into an object with undeniable presence.
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hand & eye
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CAREY NELSON
Drawing: See More Throughout college others occasionally asked me what sort of elective they should take in a particular free hour. I always responded with Introduction to Drawing. Nearly every response I received to that sugggestion was a permutation of, “I can’t draw.” “That’s OK” I told them, “the class isn’t about drawing. It’s about seeing things.” I really believe that drawing has changed my perception of the world more than anything else in my life. Of course, I was indebted to the craft for gaining me friends when my family moved and I switched schools halfway through the sixth grade. To counteract my particularly lukewarm reception I drew everyone in my class as their own original superhero. One classmate requested that I draw her superhero in her yearbook every year until high school graduation. Drawing helped me out.
Drawing in college changed me though. I was pushed to get eliminate lines and find form in values. I had to decipher exactly how the light illuminated volumes. I had to see things as they really appeared. Years before I discovered plans and sections, drawings were teaching me how the world really is.
Lee III (2012) graphite 18” x 24” Interwoven (2014) black and sepia pen 30” x 22” Justin (2007) graphite sketch
I love observational drawing for the personal touch it brings to shared reality. If five artists draw the same thing from the same spot under the same conditions I would expect them to create five uniqueimages. The virtue of drawing is not photorealism, but rather unique hand. Naturally, not all drawing is observational, but most of my drawing tends to be as I like to use it make my mark on a moment or place. It is a gift to me to be able to draw, and I use that gift to elevate my subject matter.
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Define Life We are so very complex. We use our faces and bodies to convey all the going-ons inside us. Sometimes our faces and bodies speak for us without us paying attention. Line and gesture have meaning. That is why a lamp can appear to be curious or dejected or why a slight twinge of the lip can forecast amusement, confusion, or joy.
Who is Lamp? (2014) graphite, pen, marker, charcoal 18” x 24” Friends (2013) 9” x 12” each Mary Jordan Naseem Jianfei
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Go Bigger At the time I made it this abstract drawing was the largest I had done. Paper roughly 4’ x 3’ requires the entire arm to wield the pen, marker, or brush. Drawing my first permanent two foot line without a straight edge was daunting, but I found the process of working larger to be very rewarding. I was inspired by the process of triangulating meshes done before 3D printing. I suppose it could also harken to early polygonal video game graphics, but the core concept of representing forms with only flat surfaces is the same. This drawing became a game for me as I invented my own rules for its creation–rules that I hope make it a game for the viewer as well. I did not want to use value or color to give away form, but I still wanted form to be readable.
Paper (2014) pen, marker, and ink 50” x 38”
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Analysis
Drawing as documentation is an interesting concept. On one hand, the Joe Bonham Project has artists creating portraits of wounded soldiers often with severe disfigurement or amputation. The emotional impact of these drawings is severely different than a photograph would provide. On a completely different hand, Mark Lombardi created elaborate diagrams to visualize the massive amounts of reasearch he had done on scandals and corruption. Both projects awe me and are worth your time.
Both projects also deal with fairly negative context: the horrors of war or the realization of a conspiracy that spread further than anyone could have imagined. I wanted to push against these works with something positive to see what I could accomplish with innocence and lightness. Women are brilliant with their use of tone and subtext. The simple phrase, “how do I look?” can be said a hundred different ways. I documented my wife asking me how she looked and drew six different portraits of the same question.
Did you know some people say there are only three to five basic positive emotions? I did my best to visually diagram all the research I could on happiness and other positive emotions. The drawing is displayed with a second drawing nearly completely empty except for the contrasting negative emotions at the joint. How Do I Look? (2014) colored pencil and ink 9” x 12” Positive Emotion (2014) charcoal and graphite 30” x 22”
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Graphic Design Design creates heirarchy and order. Graphic design does that with images and Adobe products. I kid a little, but as an acting major with an art minor in undergrad I was in the unique position of knowing a lot of people who needed posters and having the ability to create those posters. Of course, graphic design is more than making posters or save the date cards. Architectural competition boards, client presentations, and portfolios are stitched together and finished with graphic design. In that sense, my graphic design work can be hard to capture on a page like this, but I appreciate the posters especially because they are made up of clues and nods to the story that even if you don’t understand what they mean they will prepare you somewhat for what you will see at the show. Poster (2011) Save the Date (2014) Invitation (2010) Poster (2011)
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Printmaking: Pressing Papers Printmaking stands as a stark contrast to drawing. Drawing is immediate; printmaking (in most forms) is quite a more convoluted process (look up stone lithography and you’ll wonder how anyone ever figured out how to do it in the first place). The results however are works that are perhaps just as intimate as a drawing, but with multiple copies of the same piece.
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All of my prints have been made by hand with manual presses. There is great satisfaction in carefully registering paper on a plate you have labored over and cranking it through a press to create an indelible mark with a physical imprint. Different printmaking processes required different methods, and each is a technique which requires its own skill set.
Guitar (2014) stone lithograph 16” x 13.5” Instanbul (2009) linocut 6” x 6” Mind Eraser (2009) linocut 12” x 18”
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Layered
the process Printing processes can run from the slightly absurd (stone lithography) to the fairly straightforward (collagraph). Their uniqueness give them wonderfully different results from each other. Lithography is widely used today as the final printed image is a near perfect replica of the original. However, technology has vastly improved the efficiency of stone lithography as it was originally conceived in 1796 by a musician who was tired of writing his music over and over again. tSimplified, stone lithography uses grease to create an image on the stone. Acid bites this image into the stone, and a protective coating is applied to seal the stone. To print, the stone is kept wet, and the parts exposed to grease and acid refuse the water. The stone is inked, and the water refuses the ink. Therefore, the ink is only applied where the stone was originally marked by the grease. Etching is another process that uses acid to bite the plate so that it is receptive to ink. Etching is an intaglio process where the ink is received by the cuts made by the acid and wiped off of the flat surface of the plate. Linocut (similar to woodcut, but done with linoleum blocks) is a relief process (opposite of intaglio) where the ink is applied to the parts of the plate not cut away. Collagraphs can be printed intaglio or relief as they are collage plates made what whatever the artist desires.
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Heart (2014) collagraph 15” x 22”
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Fallen (2009) etching 10” x 8” (sub)Urban (2009) collagraph and colored pencil 30” x 22”
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Self Portrait (2014) Wood Cut 26” x 40”
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careydnelson@gmail.com
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