Embracing the unexpected ABSTRACT
The earth and its atmosphere are made of different environmental layers. Some being transparent and others more opaque. My project is about the earth’s ecosystems and the ever-changing world we live in. Much of the content of my art work is based on transparency and layering as it relates to the natural world. The opaque layers have color, intensity, tone and value while the transparent layers take on the colors of what lies beneath as well as reflections from above. I planned four multicolored woodblock prints that layered transparent color inks on Japanese paper. This endeavor is a continuation of my initial exposure to printmaking processes.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Spending time outdoors is one of my favorite pastimes. Whether it is going on walks in the woods or exploring caves I find nature fascinating and surprising. It poses risks and challenges and nourishes my senses. Nature brings me back to reality by reminding me there are forces I have no control over and that natural ecosystems are ever-changing. I am reminded that nature is unpredictable and apt to change in unforeseen and seemingly spontaneous ways. The content of my art work is based on transparency and layering as it relates to the natural world. The opaque layers have color, intensity, tone and value while the transparent layers take on the colors of what lies beneath as well as reflections from above. These multicolored woodblock prints layer transparent color inks on Japanese paper. I work in an unpredictable, loosely-controlled manner to create artistic prints. As one color is layered on top of another color I never quite know what to expect when the woodblock and paper are run through the press. I can’t predict the result but generally the ink combinations produce a unique rich and intense color. The work is controlled to a certain extent but I am able to embrace the unexpected colors, contrasts and shapes that happen. I enjoy working intuitively in a give-and-take process with the prints I make. Like life, things are not always peaceful and harmonious but at the end of a storm there is a good possibility for a rainbow.
By Susan Bybee
ARTIST INFLUENCES
Karen Kunc, a woodcut artist, has influenced my work. Her woodblock prints are of nature and her surroundings of the Nebraska landscape. She says “My prints suggest extremes of weather and natural forces at work, a sense of the micro/macrocosm, set against landscape or space, both wild and cultivated, intimate and unknowable.” Cudra Clover is a skilled artist who works in silk painting. “I see change as the norm, not the exception, and chaos as something to be celebrated, not feared,” Clover says. “Chaos is the natural rhythm of the universe.” Nature has a rhythm and ebbs and flows like the tides.
MATERIALS
• Cyan, magenta and yellow process inks — these inks absorbed into the paper and layers of ink were added to achieve rich colors. • Nishinouchi Japanese paper — sturdy enough for multiple runs. • 1/2 inch birch plywood which made carving and mark-making easy • Flexcut carving tools • Palette knife • Stencils • Glass mixing surface • Brayers • American French Tool Press American French Tool Press
RESULTS
The woodblock prints are part of the group BFA show in the Kimura Gallery in April 2016. They will be displayed in a frame with a back-lit light source that illuminates the nuances created by the layering process on paper. The viewers will see the beauty in our Cyan, magenta and yellow ink world and consider that what we put into the ecosystems makes an impact that affects us today and into the future. It matters how we take care of the planet.
The Sea, Woodblock Print, 2016
REFERENCES: Karen Kunc. “About.” Aug. 2015. www.constellation-studio.net • Cudra Clover. “About Cudra Clover.” Sept. 2015. www.cudraclover.com
The Sky, Woodblock Print, 2016
The Trees, Woodblock Print, 2016
The Earth, Woodblock Print, 2016