The Artist Speaks about her work…

                                                                                                                                               

 

 

            Exploring the elusive theme of time requires a focus on practical as well as imaginative ruminations.  How does one experience and perceive time?  St. Augustine concluded that time is in the mind - the past and the future make up "time memory."  We are measuring the present in relationship and duration to the past and possible future.

 

            This series of work employs antique sundials to suggest measurement or passage of time and circular images to position the artist in that time memory.  The dialogue is suggested by the individual titles given to each piece.  When viewed as a total image, each work becomes part of the artist’s personal “Book of Hours” or a visual text for spiritual reflection and prayer.  Each work in the series is the same size and in tandem create a daily calendar of the artist’s journey through life.

 

            Solar plate etchings are appropriately created by using ultra violet light to penetrate and harden unworked areas of the photo-polymer plate.  The artist's images are created through drawings, collages and digital manipulations which are then copied on mylar and exposed to the plate’s surface.   A water wash out creates the etched indentations on the surface after exposure.  As a final step, the plate is completely exposed to ultra violet light to harden its entire surface,

 

            The plate is traditionally inked using intaglio or relief methods and printed through a large flat bed etching press under pressure onto dampened paper.  Manipulations of the ink on the surface through relief rolling, chine colle, wiping a la poupe and hand coloring with watercolor and colored pencils are all employed to varying degrees.  The number in the left hand margin indicates the edition number of each work.

 

            Other printmaking techniques which have been used in this 2006 series are collagraph, pronto plate lithography and monoprinting.

 

                                                                                                Dorothy Cochran, 2006

 

 

For further information on the work or the artist

www.dorothycochran.com

dorothy818@cs.com

201-693-8685