These intaglio prints are made from multiple registrations of various zinc plates which I prepared using a soft ground technique. A fine nylon cord was used to make the marks in the soft ground prior to exposing each plate to acid. I created approximately 15 plates which I printed in different combinations, colors and orientations to generate a family of images, each image unique yet related to the next. Ghost images, offset marks and the rich layering of color impressions adds depth to these prints. the images are 9" x9" on a 19"x 15" piece of Rives BFK paper. [slideshow]
On the Level/Under Water
This installation " On the Level/Under Water" was commissioned by Burlington City Arts for the Burlington Vermont waterfront as part of the 2009 quadricentennial celebration of Lake Champlain. This temporary site specific installation was made of hundreds of bamboo poles arranged in a radiating pattern on which a perfectly level datum was marked with a series of blue reflective tape tags. The blue tags extended to objects (trees, light poles, fences, electric boxes etc...) in the surrounding park. When viewed at a particular height ( approx 5' from grade) this three dimensional field collapses into a level blue line which echos the line of shore on the opposite side of the lake. Water naturally reaches a uniform level and was used historically in construction as the precursor to the site level. The “water level” was used to establish building foundations and survey marks for engineering projects and cities dating back millennia. I am interested in this interface between a “natural” substance, water, and it’s use to establish an idealized spatial geometry, a “level” plain, within the varied topography and irregularities of a landscape. This installation was vandalized as the installation neared completion and was unable to be reinstalled. I will be reusing the materials in this project to create a new installation, a reinterpretation/reinvention, for Burlington City Art's Firehouse Gallery, Downtown Burlington in 2011.