Multi block prints

After completing my first multi block print I want to be more adventurous in my use of multiple blocks. My previous print could have been a reduction print, the layers were all the same image. To make a different use of this medium I want to try laying contrasting images over and alongside one another.

I have been looking at printmakers who do this. The first artist I looked at was David Salle and this print High and Low

High and Low, David Salle, 1994

This print uses lithography, screen print and woodcut. Each medium creates different textures and these are juxtaposed and layered. The different print mediums are used independently of each other to create a deliberately incoherent work. I wrote about Salle before when looking at Postmodernism. He is often cited in this context because of his works juxtaposing different styles. Bold geometric shapes make this lively work interesting to look at, and lead the eye around the different textures and colours.

Untitled, 1991

Conversely this untitled wood cut uses multiple blocks to create one image. The blocks are more similar in their textures and subject matter and the images are layered rather than juxtaposed. This image is successful because all the blocks contain large areas of white so all three images can clearly be seen at the same time, and one layer, the bright red is able to stand out over the others. If more dense images were layered this may become less clear.

I recently visited the Irish Museum of Modern Art Where I was able to see a small selection of prints. Included in these were some works by Alice Maher some of which were also composed with multiple print techniques.

Running Away From a Bunch of Nettles, 2014

This print is a woodcut. It uses separate blocks of very different textures. Unlike Salle, these are combined to make a coherent image, with distinct elements.

The Messenger, 2014

This print is etching, aquatint and photopolymer. The three print mediums create very different textures which again are combined in one coherent image with separate elements.

I am interested in exploring these ideas through my experimental print. I would like to try combining some blocks made on different surfaces to create different textures.