The series of prints, Nocturnal Bowls, was influence by a group of historic photographs taken at night. I began to imagine how moonlight could make objects luminous and give them very different visual qualities than they would in daylight. I wanted the object to have some aspect of glowing in diminished light.
The prints are produced using a variation on traditional relief printing techniques. Instead of using a wood or linoleum block, I cut a matrix from very thin Japanese paper, lay it on an inked surface and when the paper contacts the ink, it absorbs some of the ink faster in some areas which crates the fissures that make the bowl look like the glazes are cracked and crazed. The ink paper matrix is carefully transferred to a dampened paper and pressed. This technique is fraught with challenges as there are multiple ways that errors can happen. This makes the studio experience so much more rewarding when the finished work is successful.
Measures approximately 12.25" x 12.25" framed