My family teases me about my odd collection of "found nature" - things like feathers, rocks, snakeskin, butterfly and cicada wings, and most recently a deer antler. Maybe not everyone likes to study dead bumblebees, but who can resist picking up seashells at the beach?
This summer I took home a collection of shells as usual. But I chose fragmented shells that had interesting textures and holes, shells that might look like something other than a shell when examined closely.
I made some more solarplate etchings and began to play with composition and layering. Here you can see my three different versions of this seashell image. The light-sensitive plates are exposed with a photo transparency and when the emulsion is washed out, you are left with a plate etched with the photographic image.
Here's a first run of what I've done with them. I'm starting to feel like the images are not really about seashells, but about something deeper - a reflection of time, age and memory, perhaps. I'm sure this was influenced by the he said/she said news of the last weeks. I was thinking that my memories are stitched together fragments, a blur of what I have done and might have done, with great holes of forgetting as years pass.
This summer I took home a collection of shells as usual. But I chose fragmented shells that had interesting textures and holes, shells that might look like something other than a shell when examined closely.
I made some more solarplate etchings and began to play with composition and layering. Here you can see my three different versions of this seashell image. The light-sensitive plates are exposed with a photo transparency and when the emulsion is washed out, you are left with a plate etched with the photographic image.
Here's a first run of what I've done with them. I'm starting to feel like the images are not really about seashells, but about something deeper - a reflection of time, age and memory, perhaps. I'm sure this was influenced by the he said/she said news of the last weeks. I was thinking that my memories are stitched together fragments, a blur of what I have done and might have done, with great holes of forgetting as years pass.
 I was reminded of an excellent two-part episode of Malcolm Gladwell's podcast, Revisionist History, that explored the science of memory. I highly recommend it to you. A Polite Word for Liar (Memory Part 1) Free Brian Williams (Memory Part 2) |  |
The best part about all of this is my renewed creative energy. Working in a big, bright studio has done wonders for me! As John Updike wrote, "What art offers is space, a certain breathing room for the spirit."
Amen to that!
Amen to that!
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