Graphic Design
printmaking
I enjoy processes that focus on developing layers with clean lines and simplified forms, focusing on shapes and color to create perspective and emphasize shadows and highlights. In my piece Approaching the Colosseum, I develop these techniques through the process of printmaking. The linocut is a reduction print using four values to replicate an image I took of the Colosseum. I spent many hours simplifying the values into shapes that were carved in three layers on the same linoleum.
I chose to develop two color schemes, one with muted greys and the other with a vibrant orange and deep blue. These two color schemes help portray two of the aesthetics of Italy, either the muted values in stone ruins, or the brightly painted buildings and streets. The reduction print starts with the lightest value and builds up layers that progressively get darker.
Mixed Media Installation
Columns are not often found in isolation but create colonnades that extend across a space. And even though they are often in ruins, the repetition and balance are powerful and strong. The Greek column’s influence throughout history was also powerful as it has found its way into our own architecture.To capture the idea of an infinite colonnade, a mirror is placed on either side of a Greek Doric style column made of polystyrene.
Space is left around the column to invite viewers to move amongst the column and look off into the distance. This piece uses fractured mirrors to create a distorted repetition. Not only has history been distorted or changed as it has repeated into current times, but our view of history can shift as we look back on it or into the future with varying worldviews and perspectives. I tried to capture this distortion by incorporating the moving perspective of mirrors reflecting into mirrors. As you walk around the piece the reflections vary in how they move off into the distance. The use of grout to create a stone-like finish mimics the look of worn marble or stone similar to the columns across Europe.
