‘this place’ #2
‘this place’ #2
archival inkjet
33 x 48 cm. (13″ x 19″)
Related works: ‘this place’ #1 and ‘this place’ #3
February 15, 2011 in Digital printmaking, Printworks by Marja-Leena
by Marja-Leena Marja-Leena Rathje
on printworks and other passions
by Marja-Leena
this reminds me of some of your collographs. they always seem watery, like something under a microscope. x
The colors and forms are lovely. It has a wonderfully sensuous quality.
Elisa, ‘watery’, that’s interesting! And there is an image from a collagraph in here! Good eye.
Susan, glad you like! I like textures, as you probably know.
Heh, there is something like under a microscope in this! Lovely colors and textures.
I find it fascinating how the eye and emotions react to presentations of the same image. As your piece stands I find the grey blocks – ‘shadows’ rather ominous. However, seen turned 90 degrees to the right the whole appears to me to have an optimistic aspect. The joy of abstracts!
Leslee, yes, I feel there is a cellular look to this.
Olga, interesting observations once again. It always fascinates me what others see in my work. Are we artists blind to certain things in our own work, I wonder?
I think that the better the work, the longer it takes to appreciate it fully; that there is always more to see there. I think that even as we make a work and complete it to one satisfaction in us, the better it is the more it will go on to show what else is in there. We put it there, but not necessarily consciously.
Also, others can see what they contribute to the looking.
Olga, yes, yes. I usually try not to think too hard about the meanings behind what I’m creating while working on it, instead trying to let the work and its design guide me. Colours, textures, patterns and other details are considered. When it’s all done, then I step back and study it, and may leave it for a while. Sometimes even long after it’s been put away, another look will give me something else I did not see in it before. Sometimes I don’t like the piece anymore, or I may like it more than before. Do you feel that way too?
Yes, I have an ambivalent relationship with most of my pieces, even after they have been completed and put away for some time. Sometimes a piece will sing straight from the beginning, look right in design, be great when stitched, and still bring joy when I look again after time. Others niggle in different ways. And like you some pieces do not please me much any more.
But the best pieces for me are the ones which can catch me unawares with something more to look at and some different aspect to think about no matter how long they hang about. It’s that enigmatic quality that I’m aiming for.
Olga, “that enigmatic quality” or mystery, is indeed something I seem to like to achieve in my work, even if it is subconsciously. Thanks for the conversation!