Water Imprints (1996 – 97)
A series of 29 paintings exploring purely aesthetic problems of color and form.
Gouache and tempera on Velké Losiny® * paper in two different sizes: 29 × 42 cm and 42 × 58 cm.
The Water Imprints series was created so to say at one go. I had about thirty sheets of nice, hand-made paper from the famous Czech paper mill Velké Losiny and I wanted to try what one could do with them.
My aim was to experiment and make relatively simple, almost geometrical compositions that were to be enlivened with color and various textures including with some simple print forms and stencils made of handy materials. I needed to work fast because the paper has its own character and one should make it pretty wet, then slightly dry and somewhere in that gap – while it is neither too wet, nor dry – to fill it with color and shape. There is not room for deep thoughts in this process. What is needed are quick decisions and improvisations. That unleashes the creative impulses and the intuition and – together with certain chance (because one works with water) gives as a result free works without surplus speculations. The sole conception is the unfolding of the inner sense of composition and color.
* Velké Losiny Prague is a beautiful handmade, acid free white paper made of 85% cotton and 15% linen. It is laid and watermarked with 4 deckle edges.
Gouache and tempera on Velké Losiny® * paper in two different sizes: 29 × 42 cm and 42 × 58 cm.
The Water Imprints series was created so to say at one go. I had about thirty sheets of nice, hand-made paper from the famous Czech paper mill Velké Losiny and I wanted to try what one could do with them.
My aim was to experiment and make relatively simple, almost geometrical compositions that were to be enlivened with color and various textures including with some simple print forms and stencils made of handy materials. I needed to work fast because the paper has its own character and one should make it pretty wet, then slightly dry and somewhere in that gap – while it is neither too wet, nor dry – to fill it with color and shape. There is not room for deep thoughts in this process. What is needed are quick decisions and improvisations. That unleashes the creative impulses and the intuition and – together with certain chance (because one works with water) gives as a result free works without surplus speculations. The sole conception is the unfolding of the inner sense of composition and color.
* Velké Losiny Prague is a beautiful handmade, acid free white paper made of 85% cotton and 15% linen. It is laid and watermarked with 4 deckle edges.
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