Art: Susan Jaworski-Stranc
Neighbors
I’m on the email list of 13 Forest Gallery in Arlington, Mass. The first time I went there, the owner enlivened his art opening with guest opera singers.
This time, he had a printmaker demonstrate a type of linoleum printing that Picasso dubbed “suicide” printmaking. Others use the word “reduction” instead of “suicide.”
When I tell you how the work is done, you will understand why Picasso felt as he did.
Instead of carving, say, four different blocks for a four-color print, the artist uses only one block. A mistake at one stage can end the whole project.
Lowell resident Susan Jaworski-Stranc has been doing reduction linoleum printmaking for more than 30 years. As the website for 13 Forest explains, “with each layer, you carve more of the block away — so once a layer has been printed and you start carving for the next layer, there’s no going back.”
The artist herself says, “After each successive printing of a color, the surface of the block is reduced while at the same time the printing surface is built up with multi-layered colors. Born from one block of linoleum, my relief prints have the nuance and rich textural surfaces of an oil painting.
“Although Picasso coined this method of working a ‘suicide print,’ I rather think of this printmaking process as emulating the journey of life. While creating my prints, I am never able to re-visit past stages. I can only proceed forward with the acceptance of all good and not so good choices which were mediated and acted upon with the hope and joy of completion.”
On August 13, the gallery was packed as Jaworski-Stranc demonstrated. Many in the audience were experienced printmakers who asked intelligent questions that showed the rest of us what sorts of issues matter to artists.
One person asked if Jaworski-Stranc knew what the picture was supposed to look like in advance, and she explained that she started with a detailed drawing. Another artist wanted to know if the colors of Jaworski-Stranc’s very first reduction print (which she showed us) were what she anticipated.
The artist laughed, holding up that print. “Are you kidding? How would I ever think up a color like this!?”
Clearly, despite all the careful planning that goes into a print, Jaworski-Stranc relishes the beauty of randomness.
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Art: Susan Jaworski-Stranc
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Wow, theses are lovely. I’ll have to check out that gallery sometime. Cheers!
Susan makes about 12 final impressions of each work. She astonished a questioner by saying she used to do 50. It was way too strenuous, though.
Lordy–I can’t even imagine having the nerve to try this! I did one-block, one-color printing is high school and that was enough for me. This artist’s work is so impressive and all the more so now that I understand the process!
You can imagine a genius like Picasso trying this out of frustration with making numerous blocks for a bullfight poster. Susan is a bit of a genius, too.
Oh, I love that first print. Both are wonderful. Sounds like a great gallery to visit.
I love the aspect of happy surprises, of control but no control.