For | Billions of Years | Now

Abstract

For | Billions of Years | Now is a Masters of Fine Arts Thesis exhibition of seven prints, two metalsmithing sculptures and an x-ray film. There are five traditional intaglio etchings on the right side of the gallery. The back and left walls are each covered by a 20 foot, black and white print of an alligator. The matrix for the alligator prints resides in the center of the gallery, curled and gazing back on its twin apparitions. At the intersection of stares is a choker fashioned in the image of the artist's mandible, formed entirely by hand and finished through electroforming. A panoramic x-ray image of the artist's jaw hangs above. Five smaller prints are hung in a line on the right and are inspired by the artist’s personal history. These are traditional intaglio prints with etching, hard ground, soft ground, aquatint, and dry-point. In addition, I used techniques of burnishing, electric engraving, and intaglio wiping. I use metaphors such as: inhabiting, haunting and being imprisoned within vessels. Spirits cling to homes, lamps, boats, and bodies as they make their way. Sensual and tactile processes like drawing, molding, scraping, stretching and inking are ways in which I create and maintain intimacy with the work. These techniques generally guide me more than words are able. I tend to scrabble through work, feeling for a way forward. Infusing energy into copper to create something somber and contemplative has become my primary way of working. Sinking, crushing, burying, disintegration and a two-faced nature are themes I explored in this work. There is also the situational theme of being trapped and striving for escape. This exhibition represents the converging of the outlined ideas, personal truths and emotions.