SELECTIONS FROM BODY OF WORK: MUSCLE, MOVEMENT, AND MEMORY

These lithographs were developed and printed from slabs of ancient limestone. The limestone was repurposed from an archeological dig and quarry in Germany where Archaeopteryx fossils were later found. To create the images, the artist first utilized a levegator with water and loose sandpaper grit to surface and level the stone. She then utilized files to evenly bevel and smooth the edges. The images were then painted onto the flat surface of the stones utilizing an oil-based black crayon and touche wash. Once the image was complete, the artist utilized a mixture of rosin and talc, nitric acid and gum arabic, asphaltum, and lithotine in a staged process to etch the surface of the stone with her hand renderings and markings. Through that process, parts of the stone became hydrophobic (water-repellant) and parts of it became hydrophilic (water-loving). The artist then created a unique oil-based ink mixture which was utilized simultaneous with a damp sponge to roll onto the stone in multiple layers to build up the texture and marks. The artist placed hand-torn cotton rag paper onto the surface of the stone and ran it through a specialized press with finely attuned pressure on both the paper and stone. This process yielded a mirror image of her original painting, which was transferred onto the paper in the form of a lithographic print. The stones were later resurfaced, and the images disappeared, making the prints in this edition highly limited. The stones have gone on to be repurposed as substrates for new work to once again emerge.

These particular images were developed from photographs from the Artists’ multi-generational home where she grew up with her parents, siblings, grandparents, and extended family. Throughout the home were mundane fixtures such as door hinges and knobs, which were interacted with daily over decades, and that over time accumulated the imprints of her family and elders as they aged and developed their unique patina. The artist memorialized these mundane hinges and door knobs as tiny fragments that embodied memory, deep time, impermanence, and evidence of change. This was her way of metabolizing her grief and her understanding of life as a temporal experience as these elders came to age and pass.

This complex process yielded beautiful and emotive results, helped the artist develop her sense of craft, and also inspired her to develop sustainable printing processes for her future creative projects.