Archive > In the New Garden, In All its Parts - Jeanine Coupe Ryding

11 to 29 May 2005. Woodcut relief prints.

In this current body of work Ryding explores the abstract, relating external images -- in this case, natural forms -- to the internal -- the emotions of living in an urban environment. This follows the tradition of abstract expressionist painters, however one must be reminded that even today, woodcut printmaking is still about the narrative, the representational. Ryding has always built up her surface with layers of ink, again more like a painter than a printmaker. Now, her exploration of the medium goes further with scale -- most of the prints are 2 metres long. Ryding must be one of the most innovative printmakers working today.

To see more images of Ryding's work, please see the "Artist" section (or click here: artists).

  

ARTIST STATEMENT

The forms in these prints come from the natural world and the man made world. I have collected seeds, buds, blossoms, and leaves from my garden and when I travelled. These things bear a resemblance to the human made world of diagrams, plumbing and tools. These are items common to living in the Midwestern United Sates between a rural and an urban setting providing an endless parade of forms and functions in my life and guide my sense of form.

 

The way I use the forms, though, has more to do with the human made environment. While the forms have evolved through natural processes, my use of them imparts a human-made aspect to the work. The contrast between naturally evolving forms and human-imposed structure gives the composition character and rhythm that would not exist if either were absent.

I enjoy the directness and simplicity of woodcut printmaking. Carving the block is a satisfying part of the process for me. Cut after cut a rhythm develops

on the surface. The nature of the cut gives the print its personality and its power. My emphasis on the cutting process and on the patterns that develop and overlap moves the character of this work away from the pictoral and narrative and toward gesture.

-- Jeanine Coupe Ryding

To see Ryding's full biography, please see Press Release, attached at the end of this window.

Open Invitation as a .pdf document: "In The New Garden, In All Its Parts ".

Open Press Release as a .pdf document:"Press Release".