Relief Printmaking

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14 January 2020

Don’t Guess, Measure | A Guide to Thermal Resistivity

16 January 2020

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This collection of relief work was designed, carved, and printed by myself. Relief print making is something that I more recently picked up when I had the chance to take it as a class during my last semester my senior year. These prints are what I am most proud of. The act of cutting intricate line work out of the matrix and the process of pattern design became an almost therapeutic experience.

The story of the Jade Rabbit is an old and colorful tale that has many variations. This print was to be an interpretation of one of the variations of this story which entailed two old beggars and a rabbit that was willing to give his own body to feed the two men. The beggars, who were really magic men in disguise, sent the rabbit to live on the moon as a reward for his generosity. The matrix for this print was a poster-board cut by Xacto knife.

Heart & Soul is my contribution to the print exchange I participated in for my relief print making class. Our theme was “Things Unseen.” My interpretation of this theme lead me to describe both things that are physically unseen and unseen ideas. I chose the image of the physical heart and then decorated it in tribute to the designs of the Sugar Skulls used to celebrate Dia de Muertos or All Souls’ Day. Also, because the commonly used symbol for the heart originated by the shape made by combining two human hearts, I cropped some of the design to leave the audience with the idea that there is another half out there. This idea relates to the symmetrical designs that are commonly seen in Sugar Skull design.

This was an experimentation of pattern design that was inspired by henna hand tattoos. The pairing of the lion, which symbolizes strength, and the paisley pattern, which symbolizes fertility, was an intentional choice to bring a deeper meaning to this complex design. It was carved out of an MDF matrix using knives and a Dremel.