Abstract Monologues: a Suite of Intaglio Prints Pursuing a Visual Metaphor Reflecting

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Abstract Monologues:

A Suite of Intaglio Prints

Pursuing a Visual Metaphor

Reflecting Linguistic Structure

A thesis submitted to the

College of the Arts of Kent State University

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

to the degree of Master of Fine Arts

Linda Yakubek Murphy

December 2010

Thesis written by

Linda Yakubek Murphy

Assoc, Kent State University, 1984

B.A. Kent State University, 2002

M.A. Kent State University, 2005

M.F.A. Kent State University, 2010

Approved by

______, Advisor J. Noel Reifel

______, Director, School of Art Christine Havice

______, Dean, College of the Arts John Crawford

i Murphy, Linda Yakubek, M.F.A., December 2010 Fine Arts

Abstract Monologues: A Suite of Intaglio Prints Pursuing A Visual Metaphor Reflecting

Linguistic Structure

Thesis advisor: J. Noel Reifel

As an artist, I have come to understand that my printmaking exists as a personal narrative. Through abstraction, I can convey my story without using written words or spoken voice. I have created a visual language within my prints through shapes, lines, and color. Various abstract elements represented as printed plate forms, directional lines, monotype color washes and cutouts replace parts of sentence structure. Each print stands as an abstract statement about myself and the intimate world surrounding me.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you

to my Thesis advisor J. Noel Reifel

and to the members of my Thesis committee

J. Noel Reifel, Michael Loderstedt, and Isabel Farnsworth.

iii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv, v

LIST OF PLATES vi, vii

INTRODUCTION 1

Create monologue 1

Forms equal storyline 1

METHODOLOGY 2

Intaglio and monotype 2

Plates 2

Ink 3

Paper 4

Horizontal lines 4

Layers 4

Shapes as modifiers 5

Printed plates as focus 6

Three abstract parts 6

Presentation 6

ART HISTORY 7

Abstract elements 7

Writing in art 7

CONCLUSION 8

iv REFERENCES 9

PLATES 10-44

v LIST OF PLATES

Plate Page

#1 linda scared remembers daily embarrassment 10

#2 dave older tree linda guidance protection 11

#3 linda sight mom saint best-friend 12

#4 randy wheel stops linda phones 13

#5 linda treasures dad planting garden 14

#6 linda deb go-away shopping bond 15

#7 linda lori radiates love kindness 16

#8 linda admires scott strength young 17

#9 sarah lives fruitful linda eyes 18

#10 dancing linda katie magical snowflake 19

#11 linda nate bops day star 20

#12 sammy age1 royal linda light 21

#13 linda sights dewayne cherry top 22

#14 tim carries tornado west linda 23

#15 block separation 3-angels linda closely 24

#16 rene linda thoughts female share 25

#17 linda pat under shadow dark fist 26

#18 love captures linda identity room 27

#19 mike songs touches linda short 28

#20 window arose linda patricia sight 29

#21 linda neighbor shadow storm called 30

vi #22 hospital sucked life ¼ linda 31

#23 linda wastes school cash art 32

#24 stress blankets linda practically closed 33

#25 sharp lightening continued affect linda 34

#26 2010 conquers linda private afraid 35

#27 1961 linda 3rd stillborn remembers 36 mfa show photographs 37-44

vii 1

INTRODUCTION

Create monologue

Can a work of art have an abstract one-sided conversation with the viewer? In my prints, line, shape and color are used in abstract forms as the elements that create the artistic statement. The prints are composed of printed plates, monotype color washes, embossed blank and printed paper cutouts, and rounded and rectangular forms suspended on lines both negative and positive. Color plays a role through mood, tone of voice and description.

An abstract design directs the eye throughout the print surface guiding the viewer through the sentence. Although there are neither words read, nor voices heard aloud, a monologue is created though the manipulation of the abstract elements.

The abstract forms exist in a context similar to the parts of speech in a sentence.

Within each print the visual elements are analogous to noun(s), verb(s), adjective(s), and adverb(s) that together read as one statement. The visual forms are layered: moving in various directions on the paper to create the sentence in abstraction rather than reading from left to right. As a whole, the balance created among the various shapes, the dominance of color wash and repetition of shapes and lines formulate the abstract visual sentence. Though there is an overall left to right scanning bias, the entire picture plane is articulated. Modifiers move about without reference to left to right reading.

Forms equal storyline

Within each print, various parts of my life are abstractly represented: together making the statement. The print, #18 is titled love captures linda identity room. Although the 2 grammatical elements exist, the sentence structure cannot be expected to follow the word order of the English language. This green, rounded plate form represents myself and is reflected in the title as linda. The verb (captures) is visually interpreted as the somewhat horizontal line monoprinted with yellow-inked embroidery thread. A meandering line loops in hope of linking with the heart form. The amoebic heart shape is a second noun (love) (my partner) that was created through inked embroidery thread pressed onto the paper. A noun

(room) is represented through the red monoprinted color wash. The noun (identity) is pictured as the embossed printed and blank cut outs and lines. Also included are printed elements such as lines of inked and non-inked embroidery floss and paper cutouts both printed and blank to represent the other parts of speech such as pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, etc. When the entire grouping of visual elements is viewed together, the forms create the sentence. Then, to create the title, the syntax of the words is garbled to read, love captures linda identity room.

METHODOLOGY

Intaglio and monotype

Relief, intaglio, monotype and embossing were used to create the prints. The methods of printing tended to be identified with parts of speech.

Plates

Where zinc plates were used, they were developed through etching, engraving and drypoint processes. The rounded plates were developed from a previously etched plate based upon a collection of brooms sketched from life in the printmaking studio. The plate was 3 reused by chopping it into small round forms that vary somewhat in size and shape. To further the abstract design, more engraving and etching was added.

Ink

In creating the design using pieces of cut paper, print paper scraps, card stock and mat board with the printed plate, I used embroidery thread (both inked and clean) in layers over the plate to present positive and negative elements. Mixing minute amounts of color to white lends the finished print a more subtle appearance, yet with enough hue to exist in the conversation on the page. As a series, the printed images contain various shades of red, yellow, blue, green, violet and brown to create a kind of voice supporting the narrative without sound. Colors set the emotional tone of the sentence. For example, in #12 titled sammy age 1 royal linda light, the purple splash of color is the adjective that describes Sammy as regal. It outlines and defines the candle flame (noun) made using brownish gold inked embroidery floss. The purple color splash reads as a dominant color and is printed on top of the blue rounded plate form. Blue was chosen for the plate color to appear strong because it represents a subject in the sentence (Linda). A cutout in the shape of the numeral 1 within the purple color splash is the adjective identifying Sammy as one year old. Additional cutouts as repetition allow the blue to be seen through the purple color splash. These cutouts abstractly represent Linda as a supportive person in Sammy’s life. Together the candle flame, color splash, cutouts and blue plate form are supported upon the blue horizontal line that carries the viewer’s eye across the print. The line is the verb that connects the parts of the sentence. It also sets the tone, beginning at the left with a heavy dot, curvy and loopy, where elements of subject matter collide and then smooth out at the end to complete the sentence. 4

Paper

Both Rives and Arches lightweight paper were used in the body of prints. A light cream in color was chosen to not compete but complement the lightness of the print ink and the delicate nature of the plate, the rectangular forms and lines. The thinness of the paper also introduces a transparent quality creating a harmony to the print.

Horizontal lines

Two tools were used to produce the curved horizontal lines on the prints representing the verbs. Running the paper through a sewing machine without thread created a dotted line with texture. Embroidery thread was monoprinted close to the same path as the first line. Expanded widened curves and loops were used for added meaning to further define the action of the subject matter. In addition to representing the verb within the sentence structure, the lines exist as a personal link. The dotted line represents my being a sewer: my love of making clothes, purses, quilts and heritage from my Mother who is a tailor. The lines created using an imprint of embroidery floss serve as a link to my love of needlework.

Layers

Multiple monotypes create the individual parts within the abstract sentences. The grammatical elements are represented by splashes of color, inked embroidery thread and paper cutouts. Paper shapes, both printed and blank appear on the print as grammatical modifiers of the proper main parts of the structural dialogue. The printed elements are reverse prints of previous plates. Small cut pieces of paper were placed on both the blank 5 areas and on the inked plate, leaving a debossed area on the paper. In sequential printing, the inked cutouts were set facing up which resulted in a reverse image on the paper. This stencil element adds a collaged layer through design, color and texture. In addition, both large and small splashes of color are monoprinted to connect and support the sentence. Line appears within the design through both inked and non-inked embroidery thread to give the eye direction and form shaped objects. Together, these monoprints along with the intaglio printed rounded plates form the artwork: layers of visual abstract words creating a sentence.

Shapes as modifiers

Some shapes exist as supportive parts of the monologue. The rectangular forms bring harmony through repetition. The large color splashes carry weight as dominant focal points. Rounded plate forms lend contrast against the lines and color splashes. Each one varies in gradation of size, color and shape. This brings a balance into the dialogue that is similar to reading a sentence, in telling a story with emphasis on specific words through the softness or loudness of voice.

The placement of shapes and lines on the paper visually correspond to the syntax of the sentence. For example, #13, linda sights dewayne cherry top refers to Dewayne, who likes cherry pie and is viewed by Linda as an important figure in her mother’s life and therefore in her life. Dewayne is an important subject within the artwork and is represented as the red outlined form with a green stem at the top. The large splash of red ink curving around the side identifies the cherry and is placed at the left side of the page, similar to the beginning of a sentence. The second noun within the sentence is the blue plate form representing Linda and is placed in the right half of the page. This shape is soft in color and is separated from 6

Dewayne to create some visual space between the two subjects. The horizontal lines together are the verbs that join Dewayne and Linda with some looping and a knot in the middle, signifying a small amount of tension.

Printed plates as focus

Within each print, the rounded printed plate area is represented as Linda (noun) and reads as the focal point. The marks made on the plates are abstract and reflect Linda’s personality. Eight different plates are used throughout the series and are printed differently on each work to represent the multitude of idiosyncrasies that together form Linda’s identity. This is done by changing ink color or blocking out different parts of the printed area to create a new image. Within each contemporary print, the plate form is the iconography represented as Linda.

Three abstract parts

The series of prints is composed of three parts. The first group deals with my family. My partner Pat’s family forms the second grouping, and all others define the third: people, animals and things that connect Pat and myself. Examples include my mother, father, my partner’s brothers and sister, the neighbor dog, and the hospital where Pat and I both work.

Presentation

The prints are presented in the gallery in a horizontal format on three different walls.

The first and second are hung opposite one another to serve as mirroring counterpoints, and 7 the third is hung on the connecting wall to represent the joining of the first and second.

Within each series, the horizontal line is broken twice to show sub-groupings. These are dictated by a closer connection between the persons within the particular prints.

ART HISTORY

Abstract elements

The integration of language structure and letterforms into visual works of art is noticed in many works of art. Julius Bissier’s and Georges Mathieu’s imagery appear as abstract calligraphy. Artists like Klee and Miro reduce subject matter into calligraphic markmaking. The elements become the objects rather than being representational.

Writing in art

Many artists incorporate mark making reminiscent of writing in their art. Cy

Twombly’s work is filled with gestures suggesting illegible calligraphy that become subject matter. Jim Dine’s lithograph The Crash is more literal in tone. The word crash is spelled clearly while all around the letters is chaos. In the artwork titled Oiled Dead by Bruce

Nauman, simple color and definition forms the lettering. Lesley Dill used letterpress and collage in The Poetic Body: Poem Gloves. The words are both readable and broken in a pristine typed form, inviting the viewer to try to decipher the message. Jenny Holzer used the writings of other people. In one work, she reproduced the written text of an actual autopsy onto linen (with names and identifying numbers whited out) to question our political system.

While all these artists are different in their tactics, the art is connected through its interest in visual language.

CONCLUSION

The works in this thesis develop a narrative of my life. Within each print, a monologue is created through abstract visuals using strategies of simple linguistic structure.

Visual language is replaced by abstract forms that together create statements about my family, my partner’s family and other subjects that link us. The elements that can be completely abstract, yet on some level be understood, function in ways that parallel the parts of a sentence. This collection is my narrative as told through a visual monologue.

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