What’s in a Mark: An Exhibition based on Mark Marking

Group Show at Remarque Print Gallery, 3812 Central Ave., Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Virtual Opening – Watch the Replay Video on YouTube

For What’s in a Mark, I experimented with a blend of trace and encaustic monotypes, both of which are very direct, immediate methods compared with traditional printmaking which can involve many stages in the creation of the image, plate and proofs.

Encaustic monotypes are created on a large hot plate by melting colored wax; silicone tools are used to create a design, which is then printed by hand on Asian paper.

More detailed marks are created with a trace monotype technique, where the paper is placed face down on printmaking ink on glass and I draw on the back of the paper. It’s common to draw with a pencil, but I prefer to draw “blind” with a vintage metal pen which leaves no trace on the back of the paper – it’s more freeing when I can only imagine what marks are being transferred.

The trace monotype is not affected by the heat or wax, except that the wax makes the paper translucent. Therefore, certain prints are designed in two layers to take advantage of this effect.

The What’s in a Mark group show also features artwork by Krista Barrett, Christine Herman, Chuck Lathrop, Suzanne Marshall, Mary Sundstrom-Gramer, Dan Welden, and Pamela Wesolek.

Click on any image for larger size (press right/left arrows to cycle through images).

Trish Meyer, originally from Dublin, Ireland, has enjoyed a variety of creative careers from musician to graphics designer for film and video, before falling under the spell of printmaking.