I did several more stages of printing this weekend, basically covering the image of Dorothy May with enough ink to make her look like she was sinking into murky water but not so much ink as to obliterate her form. It was a tough balance and it also felt very emotionally intense to do it. I felt grief welling up as I worked. I felt so sorry for her and for all of the people who were on the ship, moored in the harbor staring out at a strange barren land, waiting for Bradford's scouting mission to return with news of what lay before them. It was cold, it was bleak and they must have felt so helpless and terrified when they realized that Dorothy had gone overboard. I could feel all of this as I worked.
A friend of mine recently asked me "what happened to your happy art?" I took that to mean, "I don't like your scary/unhappy art" and I was sort of amused by it. But this weekend I felt that way a little bit myself. This feels like new territory for me to be exploring in my work, and it's probably new territory I'm exploring in myself as well.
The photo above is the accumulation of around 10 or 11 impressions. I still have one more block to print -- some text.
5 comments:
This is wonderful Annie. I don't know this history but I can feel the coldness and gloom of the depths. BTW have you ever heard of an Australian artist called Cressida Campbell? She has developed her own adaption of Moku Hanga, painting all the colours on the block before taking a single impression (which she does by hand). Then she re-paints the block and presents it as an artwork too. The blocks have this amazing velvety texture and are sublime. Here's a link: http://cressidacampbell.com/
This is just fantastic. Your hard work is really paying off. It is very powerful.
Hi Annie !
I was very touched by your words and must say that I love your print...I do feel the murky waters when seeing your print and that is the intention which works so good for me.....
working on happy themes in your art is one side of it...the important thing is to deal with matters that are important for one self....this makes the most intensive art, is my opinion....
and as human beings we are very differentiated and contain many sides in our personality.....and this makes both people and art intersting, I think....and being able to work more differentiated and true to yourself is important....life isn´t just about making happy art...
Annie, that's a really beautiful, haunting work. Will you be selling any from this edition?
- Amanda, I have seen some of Cressida Campbell's work. It's amazing, isn't it? Seems like a cross between moku hanga and white line prints. Are you saying that she makes only one print? Wow. I'll check out the link.
- Elizabeth, thanks. I'm glad it comes across as powerful.
- Anita, thanks for helping me over the emotional hurdle of dealing with intense topics.
- David, yes I'll be selling this print on my main website. Probably will have it ready by the end of this week.
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