The ‘Vortex’ etchings all had their beginnings with a process called Suminagashi which is a precursor to paper marbling. It involves floating paint on the surface of water by repeatedly dripping paint onto the center of a water tray. With each drop of paint, concentric rings are formed and spread to the edges of the tray due to the naturally occurring surface tension of the water. The ‘bullseye’ images are transferred to paper by floating a sheet of paper on top of the water, thus absorbing the paint. This is a way for me to obtain authentic arc and circle images directly created by water and paint. These dried, marbled papers with circular images are used in different capacities in the etchings shown.
The ‘Moving Target’ prints were made using a process called chine collé in which I used the marbled paper as the impression paper to receive the ink from the etched plate. A copper plate with the etched image of spaced concentric rings was inked in different colors; a technique known as a-la-poupée. The impression paper with the circular image is pasted on the back and placed on the inked etching plate, face down. The pasted back faces the white backing paper which is laid over the pasted paper. This is then run through the press which simultaneously adheres the impression paper to the white printing paper and prints the circle images from the etched plate onto the marbled paper.
The final image has both the imperfect, uncontrolled, watery rendition of the marbled concentric rings along with the precise, controlled, static rings from the etching plate. The etching plate is a constant so each marbled image has to find a spot to land on the inked plate each time, each time in an unique position. The combination of the random and specific, the loose and the rigid, is both calming and visually surprising while always recalling the movement and influence of water.