Find some contemporary printmakers who rely heavily on texture in the prints. What sort of
textures have they used to create effects? How well has it worked?
I started this research by looking for contemporary artists, and came across the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, Conneticut. There is currently an exhibition, the 4th Biennial International Footprint Exhibition, featuring prints of 1 square foot in size (30.5 x 30.5 cm). The exhibition is on view through August 31, 2014, which is today. Unfortunately this was too late for me to make it there, but I selected artists from the online presentation of this exhibition.
So in a way, I’m making a virtual exhibition visit and combine it with this research point. I will keep an eye on the center because they are quite active and also offer printmaking workshops.
Unfortunately, the images from the exhibition are copyrighted, so I’m not going to include them in my blog, but post the link to the picture instead. I’ll say a few words to some prints that attracted my attention.
Peter Barron: “Among those left behind”
https://www.flickr.com/photos/contemprints1995/14434116731/in/set-72157645093656835
This is a woodprint in green, red and yellow with black texture printed on top. I found this print very appealing because of the strong colour contrast and the heavily textured surface. When looking only briefly, the image might pass as a bush of colourful red roses in a green garden, with some adjacent yellow flowers. But actually it shows red faces and the black texture on the green background resembles wire fence or something similarly unpleasant to the touch.
The irregular surface texture in combination with the strong colours creates high tension and the faces are like screaming to the viewer. I find this an intimidating print. Without going into the probably political message, the way the artist has used texture is very successful in conveying that tension “among those left behind”.
From a purely visual standpoint, this is what I was looking for in my final series of project 4, the view on the pond. I wanted irregular, crisp, dark black marks for the leaves before a coloured sky background. Seeing this print made me wonder whether a relief technique would have been more appropriate for what I intended to achieve.
Joan Potkay: Shimmer light; (sunflower monoprint)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/contemprints1995/14251037747/in/set-72157645093656835
I admit that this monoprint is not heavily relying on texture… colour and shape seem to be much more important. Nevertheless wanted to reflect on it for those texture bits included because I found them remarkable.
There is some texture in the lower left, created using some type of blue ink. It is very irregular and looks like blotted and accidental, but I found it very effective in conveying natural forms of background elements. The leaves of the sunflower are also textured using this blue tone, partly linear and partly using shapes for shaded areas.
A more linear approach is used for the flower and its orange center. I think the technique is effective to convey the life energy of the plant, but it is not very subtle and for me it does not capture the haptic qualities of the actual surface. But probably the artist did not intend to do that.
The linear technique, maybe a variant of backdrawing, was not used very delicately. I find it remarkable that I realize this because I tend to draw this way and have only recently begun to explore a more sensitive approach to surface texture.
Susan Newbold: Cambodian Memory
https://www.flickr.com/photos/contemprints1995/14457709183/in/set-72157645093656835
This is an abstract composition in purple and orange on white ground, and there’s quite a lot of texture on the surface. The orange areas are almost three dimensional through the use of lighter and darker values. The purple areas seem to use a medium range of tones to create a pattern which is then perceived as texture. The overall effect is interesting and convincing in a way that I’d almost expect to touch a wiggled and bumped surface when touching the print.
It almost looks like a photographic technique, maybe screenprinting was used, but it might also be the result of printing positive and negative on top of each other with slight misalignment, similar to what I accidentally achieved with the first print of five single leaves in grey tones (Project 4, series 2, the leaves).
What works particularly well for me is the colour choice of orange and purple together, and that there’s much of the white paper shining through. The irregular distribution of lighter and darker areas and the seemingly accidental overprinting makes the entire print look very organic.
Sergey Zlotnikov: Summer on the pond
http://ww.flickr.com/photos/contemprints1995/14250851148/in/set-72157645093656835
I selected this print because of the photographic quality and because of the motif, the pond. I found this interesting in light of my own attempts to create the reflections on the water surface with printmaking techniques in the pond series of project 4.
Looking up the artist’s website I realized that he employed an ancient photographic technique. I didn’t delve into the details but I think like modern analog techniques it is based on a chemical reaction involving light, not a manual printmaking technique. I was wondering how the print made it into the exhibition.
Anyway, of course the technique is very successful in creating the illusion of textured surface, in particular the little wiggles on the water, but it’s unfair competition!
Mitchell Visoky: Navigating currents (black textures on a pale yellow support)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/contemprints1995/14436201312/in/set-72157645093656835
This print is the one that relied most on texture, because there’s almost nothing else than textured areas to see. There are hardly any recognizable shapes, only some egg-shaped elements, and the colour range is between pale yellow and dark grey.
The title is quite good because the subject looks like water or clouds or mud, stirred or for some other reason in heavy motion. As in the purple and orange print by Susan Newbold, I’d expect a textured surface and a haptic effect when touching it.
Maybe it’s the choice of colour or missing a white support to shine through, but I found this print less visually appealing than the purple and orange one. There are also some drawn marks, rows of circles in dark colour, that are not very well integrated with the background texture. Maybe these marks are what the artist referred to as “navigating”, as if they were trying to trace the underlying currents.
Conclusion
Looking at textures in prints is actually quite interesting. It’s good to have gained some practical experience myself how to create them, this made me more aware of what happens in artist prints. I also realized the huge variety how texture can be used for printmaking.
References
CCP website: http://contemprints.org
Flickr page with selected works from the 2014 Footprint Exhibition: https://www.flickr.com/photos/contemprints1995/sets/72157645093656835/page2/