Abstract Etchings, a collection that celebrates the artists leading a reinvention of the 600 year old tradition. Recognised as a fine art medium from as early as the 15th century, etchings have a long history of challenging the status quo.
Abstract Etchings
From Albrecht Dürer’s revolutionary Knight, Death, and The Devil to Francisco Goya’s controversial anti war series The Disasters of War, the medium has always been used to push the boundaries of contemporary art.
This Collection explores today’s avant garde artists that are pioneering a new way of working the traditional form.
The Process
Etching is an Intaglio printing process. This means a plate is cut into, inked and then the print is taken from the plate where the ink has seeped into the grooves. The opposite of this is relief printing, for example Linocut or woodcut, where a print is taken from what is left after the rest of the surface has been cut away.
In this studio film, Emily Crookshank demonstrates the skilful and labor intensive process or creating an etching.
I see the discipline of etching more in line with sculpture than painting or photography. It is very processed based.
- John Fitzpatrick
Variations on the technique
Some artists apply an aquatint to give a textured, tonal effect and it can also be used to introduce further colour. Susan Vera Clarke uses this process to bring a fresh and contemporary energy to her etchings.
Susan explores the boundaries of intaglio techniques and challenges what we traditionally considered to be a ‘print’.
Other artists use Photopolymer to transfer an existing image to a plate for etching. Ines Fernandez de Cordova takes beautifully subtle still life photographs where the light she captures is rendered in rich and subtle shades in the resulting etching.
Yoonjung Shim loves the subtle inconsistencies created by human strokes, which convey faint unevenness and originalities which differ from digital computerized graphics. By threading contemporary patterns into a very traditional medium, she creates an artistic fusion between past and present.
The exquisite material qualities of etchings can vary between whisper thin, thread like lines and soft washes of ink. Erna Simis and Hideki Arichi explore the boundaries and possibilities of the medium.
“I am drawn to etching because of the alchemy of the medium.” Gillian Garnica
Gillian Garnica's work is about paring down line and form to a minimum in order to create a quiet yet powerful presence. These spare compositions convey a repose from the noise and fast pace of contemporary life. The work is both the feel of the printed paper as an object and the small details within.