Donna Ibing completed a print series based on Goddesses. Station Gallery owns the tenth image from this series honouring the Greek goddess Leda. This woodcut shows the slightly nude female figure in the feathered embrace of a swan. As legend has it, Zeus was an admirer of Leda. In an act of shape-shifting, he assumed the guise of a swan and fell into the arms of Leda to protect her from a pursuing eagle. While in the shape of a swan, Zeus took advantage of the goddess and this forced union conceived the beautiful Helen of Troy. In her suite of prints, Donna Ibing surveys world mythologies and the goddess which they produced.
Perhaps the most straightforward of the processes available to the contemporary printmaker, woodcut remains a popular choice for its uncompromisingly graphic aesthetic. Essentially, the artist i s creating a large stamp. Woodcut is a relief technique, meaning the printed image remains flush to the surface of the matrix. The negative space- which will be printed in white, is carved out by the artist with a gouge or a knife. Once the block is ready, it is rolled up with ink and printed. Unlike other printing methods, woodcut does not require ample amounts of pressure in order to print. The artist can even print their woodcut by rubbing the back of a wooden spoon across paper laid on top of the block.
A process used for printing on thin paper. Thin paper (e.g., tissue or kozo paper} is placed on an inked printing plate. glue is applied to the other side of the paper, and the plate and paper are placed on a dampened piece of some backing material. The whole is then run through a printing press or a set of rollers so that the ink adheres to the paper and the paper to the backing. The backing provides support that prevents the thin paper from tearing.
Linocut is a printmaking technique, similar to a woodcut in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for the relief surface. A design i s cut into the linoleum surface with a sharp knife, V-shaped chisel or gouge, with the raised (uncarved) areas representing a reversal (mirror image) of the parts to show printed. The linoleum sheet is inked with a roller (called a brayer), and then impressed onto paper or fabric. The actual printing can be done by hand or with a press. The advantage of linocut is the softness of the materials and thus the ease with which it can be cut. It is also especially suitable for bold, decorative designs.
Anne Meredith Barry- WOODCUT PRINTING (PDF)
Todd Tremeer – CHINE COLLE (PDF)
Arnold Shives – LINO BLOCK PRINTING (PDF)
