Visit the Shore

Fin de la Terre, screenprint, 1998

The series of large screenprints, looking like travel posters, express my interest in the language of early print advertising and the lithographic posters of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The images are all on the theme of the non-commercial attractions of the local shore. I chose to use the French language so that, for readers of English, the letterforms in the design might remain abstract—at least for a second or two.

The use of bold marks relative to the size of the image is intended to express the tension between the mark on the surface of the paper and the illusion it creates. My work is strongly influenced by photography, which I see as embodying that tension—the powerful immediacy of the image emerging from the indifferent markings of the exposed silver on the paper.

I began each of these prints by taking photographs, which I used as a note-taking device, a catalog of suggestions rather than a rigid guide. I experimented with a range of drawing strategies and pattern studies according to a quality of light or atmosphere I felt when at the site or when recalling the landscape through the photographs. There is a sharp sensation to the experience of looking at the shore, illuminated by the expanse of sunlit sky, punctuated by the cool air—a frisson of light—that I wanted to capture with the play of small marks.

1998/2022

Please click on the images below for enlargements and label information for each print in the series.