Symposium Year
2020
Preview
Start Date
2-8-2020 8:00 AM
End Date
2-8-2020 12:30 PM
Description
Artist Statement
Who am I? In some cultures, as an older woman I would be the manifestation of the crone face of the triune goddess: the wise woman, the revered elder, the keeper of tribal memory. But in our youth-obsessed patriarchal society I am largely invisible--my knowledge, life experience, and potential contributions discounted or ignored. I am a ghost. Or am I? With “Ghost,” I issue a challenge to the ageism that pervades our society. I claim my space as an older woman, both a keeper and a maker of memory, who faces her future with confidence and serenity, and whose voice remains strong and passionate. I am me. This work is a five-layer laser-cut woodblock print that combines both digital and traditional processes. I derived the images for the woodblocks from digital sources and assembled them into separate layers using Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. The resulting files were used with a laser cutter to create woodblocks corresponding to each layer. I printed the blocks on top of each other, creating the final image. My objectives for the project were two-fold. First, I wanted to explore the technical process of layered woodblock printing, which was new to me. Second, I wanted to create an image whose symbolism both expresses the general meaning I intended and allows each viewer to find individual interpretations as well.