Assemblage II
10:40 am
Silent Messengers: Assemblage II
Collagraph on paper and archival inkjet on mylar layer
(Layers attached together at top edge)
A unique assembled print
35.5 x 29 cm.
10:40 am in Printworks, Silent Messengers by Marja-Leena
Silent Messengers: Assemblage II
Collagraph on paper and archival inkjet on mylar layer
(Layers attached together at top edge)
A unique assembled print
35.5 x 29 cm.
2:19 pm in Digital printmaking, Printworks, Silent Messengers by Marja-Leena
Silent Messengers: Writing-on-Stone IV
archival inkjet and collagraph
76.2 x 50.6 cm.
Silent Messengers: Writing-on-Stone V
archival inkjet and collagraph
76.2 x 50.6 cm.
Here are two more of the Writing-on-Stone pieces from the Silent Messengers series.
For more information and to view the others, see Writing-on-Stone I and II and Writing-on-Stone III.
All of the Silent Messenger series may of course also be accessed at the link on the left under PRINTWORKS.
UPDATE summer 2012: My new GALLERY is up and running, please visit my works there!
1:32 pm in Art Exhibitions, Modern Rock Art, Other artists by Marja-Leena
New and Improved, 2000
serpentinite 12.5″ high x 8″ wide x 6″ deep
Inscription: New and Improved Fertility God
Jutai Toonoo of Cape Dorset currently has a solo exhibition “Life Forms” at the Marion Scott Gallery at 308 Water Street, Vancouver, until September 25.
The gallery website states: Toonoo is best known for his unconventional images of human heads and figures, many of which are portrayed in restless sleep- or dream-like states. Carved mostly from locally quarried green and black serpentinite, Toonoo’s sculptures range in stature from a few inches to several feet and are rendered in a style that is both minimal and eerily expressionistic.
The gallery has posted 32 images of Tootoo’s work on their site – have a look. I think it is this expressionism together with the human figure and face that makes his work so compelling.
Then read this review by Robin Laurence, called Inuit artist makes silent stones speak :
His work is quite distinct from our cultural preconceptions of what Inuit art should look like. The sculptures are executed in serpentinite, local to the Cape Dorset area, yet there are no images of Arctic animals here… Instead, the gallery is filled with bare human faces and figures.
Many of the faces are carved in multiple configurations, conjoined in surreal ways, curved around, above, and beside each other, or facing in opposite directions, Janus-like. Instead of depicting the traditional Inuit way of life, or even that life in transition, Toonoo has taken on a universal theme: the human condition. At the same time, his art is extremely personal. “I try to give power to my work,” he says. “Lots of times, my tongue gets tied and I can’t really say what I’m thinking.” The silent stone gives him eloquence.
12:01 am in Art Exhibitions, Being an Artist, Print Triennials, Recent Exhibitions by Marja-Leena
Detail from Silent Messengers: Hoodoos I
Yesterday, while my thoughts were still freshly on international print shows after writing the post about the Krakow Print Triennial 2006, I heard the thud of letters and magazines dropping in through the mail slot. I was most excited to find among the bills and junk mail a letter from India – is it good news or bad?
It is good! I have had my printworks accepted into the SEVENTH BHARAT BHAVAN INTERNATIONAL BIENNIAL OF PRINT – ART 2006 INDIA! I am particularly pleased because this is the first time I’ve entered a competition in India, and because the jury fee was very steep and the mailing not cheap.
The exhibition has already opened on February 13th at the Roopankar Museum of Fine Arts in Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, India. I think all three pieces that I submitted will be on exhibition there: Silent Messengers: Hoodoos I, Nexus/Blue I and Nexus/Blue II. I am looking forward to receiving the catalogue!
This place sounds interesting. Because they do not have a website, here are a few words from the submission brochure:
Inaugurated by the former prime minister of India Smt. Indira Gandhi on Feb.13, 1982, Bharat Bhavan is a multi-art complex, providing interactive proximity to the verbal, the visual and the performing arts. […] Roopankar is the only museum of fine arts in India which houses both contemporary urban and folk – tribal art. Attached to the museum is a fully equipped printmaking workshop, ceramic workshop, design unit, archival section and facilities for stone carving and bronze casting.
International Print Biennials have been held there since 1989 with distinguished jury invited from around the world.
4:42 pm in Being an Artist, Digital printmaking, Printworks, Silent Messengers by Marja-Leena
Silent Messengers: Writing-on-Stone I
archival inkjet and collagraph
76.2 x 50.6 cm.
As reorganization in the studio continues, I realize I also need to do some here on the blog. With the redesign at the end of January, I lost the gallery/slide show (though some stray links to it here and there seem to work and bring it up on the old site). I am eagerly anticipating a replacement whenever my too-busy-with-work family members can manage it.
In the meantime, when revisiting some of my Silent Messengers: Writing-on-Stone series here, I noticed only Writing-on-Stone III appears along with the announcement for the “gallery” and the others are only viewable in the latter.
So I am placing them right on the main blog where the links will find them directly. I hope you will enjoy revisiting them or, if new here, viewing them for the first time as they are works from 2007 (seems like almost yesterday!). Above is the first one, and below is the second in the series. Numbers four and five will be posted later.
Here is some background information about Writing on Stone Park in Alberta and our visit there which inspired these works.
Silent Messengers: Writing-on-Stone II
archival inkjet and collagraph
76.2 x 50.6 cm.
Please visit my post about the making of the trial proofs for Writing-on-Stone I.
UPDATE: Please view also Writing-on-Stone IV and V
UPDATE 2, much later: The new GALLERY is up (see link on the top left here) and the works may now be viewed there under their series name, though not all the work has been uploaded yet – another work in progress.
8:35 pm in Being an Artist, Printmaking by Marja-Leena
One day last week, I took our SLR digital camera and tripod to the printmaking studio in order to do the photo documentation of my year’s work. I’m an amateur photographer, so it’s always an interesting challenge for me, and I’m learning. Fortunately, as of last summer, the studio finally has daylight spectrum lighting, so that’s no longer a problem. We have a good spot on one wall with even and indirect lighting, so there’s minimal glare on the works that have a shiny transparent layer. Some readers may remember my mentioning past struggles with this.
Checking the downloaded images later, I think they have worked out well, but I’m only just beginning to process them – the usual checking for colour (the Raw versions seem better), contrast, light and dark levels, and cropping.
I’m also struggling to come up with a title for the series of ‘studies’ that I did last fall. I find the word ‘studies’ rather dull and over used, and doesn’t quite reflect the playful explorations in creating this little series. I like ‘sketches’ but these aren’t drawings, they are unique uneditioned prints. Hmm… vignettes? traces? reflections? meditations? These will have the series title first, such as this: “Silent Messengers: Vignette I (II, III to X). What do you think, dear readers, any suggestions?
Another part of the documentation process is to check the prints in each edition, select the best ones and also select the artist’s proof, shop proof and any decent trial proofs, and sign them all with edition and proof numbers, title and artist’s signature. Then I record all the information about the process, the paper type and size, print size, and the edition numbers on a special print documentation form, one for each edition, which I then keep in a binder with all my other documentation forms. The shop gets a copy of the documentation sheet along with the shop proof. This is fairly standard practice in printmaking shops. I find the records very useful and I can make copies for any gallery or purchaser if requested.
Now I have to get back to work editing, but here’s one of the small layered pieces I did, and will tentatively title ‘Silent Messengers: Vignette I’. There’s just a little bit of glare in the middle, but not bad, I think.
UPDATE MARCH 29th, 2007: Thank you everyone for your imput, which has helped me chew on the title some more! I’ve finally decided to call these one-of-a-kind little pieces Silent Messengers: Assemblage I to X. I’ve removed the image that was posted here, adjusted it closer to what the original is, and given it its own post.
2:59 pm in Paths, Printworks by Marja-Leena
Paths II
photopolymer intaglio
75 x 56 cm.
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12:00 am in Printworks, Veils Suite by Marja-Leena
Veils Suite: The Couple II
monotype (oil-based inks) and watercolour pencil drawing
57 x 76 cm.
About these monotypes
7:42 pm in Dreams, Printworks by Marja-Leena
Memory/Dreams II
collagraph 96.5 x 79.5 cm. (38″ x 31″)
Edited Jan.13.2013 to show larger image.
3:47 pm in Nexus, Printworks by Marja-Leena
Nexus II
Etching 77 x 111 cm.
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© Marja-Leena Rathje 2004-2024