Artwork Description:
This is print number 2 of 5 in THIRD of FOUR Editions. Each of the editions is limited to only FIVE etchings. Both my method of ink application and my rubbing technique lends a decidedly monoprint aura to my etchings. A six-inch wide by nine-inch high, or 15.240cm x 22.860, zinc plate was employed. Media included Somerset cream colored paper, oil based etching inks, and Thai mulberry bark paper. Print size is eleven inches wide by fifteen inches high, or 27.940cm x 38.100cm. The techniques used include INTAGLIO, AQUATINT, DRYPOINT, and CHINE COLLE. This work was adapted from an1890 chrome print Washington D. C. collections of the US Library of Congress. Five nitric acid baths were needed to reach my desired design. The artist manually prints all works at The Center for Works on Paper, Open Studio in Printmaking, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. This program is associated with The Philadelphia Museum of Art. This etching exposes the underside of Venice before the dawn of the Twentieth Century by showing and documenting a poor, working class neighborhood with its people and their mundane tasks. My balance of line, geometric shapes, and shadows forms my personal visual language of poverty’s oppression. Please note that this etching is shipped to the buyer without a frame or mat. This keeps the price reasonable and also allows the collector a wide range of choice in framing selection. For shipment, a sturdy cardboard box is employed. The etching is first wrapped in two layers of acid free glassine and then placed between two archival boards. This is next placed into the shipping box and securely packed with bubble wrap. The price does not include any shipment cost. Keywords for a search include poverty, shutters, slum, Italy, Venice, ghetto, social stratification, inner courtyards, working class, and balconies.