An exhibition of contemporary prints, From The Artist’s Eye, co-curated by Kathleen Rabel and Museum of Northwest Art Exhibitions Director, Lisa Young, will be on view this summer, July 4th through September 23, 2015 in La Conner, Washington. Preview the exhibition here MoNA or if possible, visit the actual museum.
Interieur du château, aquatint (spit-bite) 24″ x 34″ on Arches paper
In Interieur du château, as in other artworks of that period, I used abstraction to explore a sense of mystery, emotion, and embedded history in architectural spaces. In response to a specific space – a seemingly empty room with multiple doorways of various dimensions leading into, out, and through – I built up free-flowing marks that highlight somewhat ambiguous spatial relationships, light and darkness, texture and depth.
Interieur du château was created during a residency at Château Suduiraut in the Sauternes region of Bordeaux, at a time when many of the château’s 30 rooms were empty; several served as my studio spaces, each chosen for the specific characteristics of light during the changing seasons. The spit-bite aquatint process of painting directly on the rosin-prepared copper plates was chosen for the delicacy of tonal values possible and an immediate involvement with the material. This allowed me to work straight on the copper using the ferric chloride as if I were painting on a canvas at the easel. I prepared the plates while at the château using direct observation in setting up the composition; they were etched and proofed in Paris at Atelier Lacourière Frélaut, during several sessions. The edition was commissioned and published by Editions Lacourière Frélaut, Paris.
Loaned from The Gannon Family Collection, Bellingham, Washington
