25 April 2016

Halftone Quran


RELICS: QURAN
Watercolor woodblock print
13 x 13 inch image (33 x 33 cm) on 17 x 19 inch (43 x 48 cm) Shioji washi
edition: 8
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This is the fourth in a series of halftone prints called Relics which will explore the often unacknowledged but inescapable religious past that underlies our 21st century secularity.

The Quran is believed by Muslims to be a text revealed from God to Mohammad through the angel Gabriel. Respect for the written text and for the book itself is an important element of Islamic religious faith. The Koran is often decorated, but never with figurative imagery.

You can see that the circles I cut from the background were large and very little wood remained, so a number of the tiny pieces fell off as I worked. At first I tried to glue them back on, but then I just gave up and let it be how it was. The layer of wood under the top ply was kind of funky, which was part of the problem. It had a strong grain, which shina doesn't usually have. I took a photo before inking it, because the grain was attractive, even though difficult to work with.


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