Title: Dissolution of Structure [Thought 1]
Year: 2020
Artist: Amy Redmond
Medium: Monotype print + letterpress printed type
Size: 8 x 10 inches
The impact of a global health crisis and quarantine is profound, forcing adjustment in how we maintain connection and identity in the absence of physical presence. Existing in that space is the need and potential to
reinvent how we communicate as individuals and as a community.
Within the cracks of heartbreak and loss are the openings for re-examining priorities and imagining a new path forward. What’s being said — and isn’t? What needs to be said, and how do we express it when words aren’t strong enough?
As I untangle my emotions surrounding the perceived and actual dissolution of structure, I’ve doubled down on the use of manual techniques in my printmaking. I’m drawn to manipulating metal and wood type through hand-inking, utilizing monotype techniques to capture ephemeral conversations written in the ink. Letterforms are pushed beyond their boundaries as words, transformed layer by layer into a visual expression designed to carry the weight of their complexity.
Each print in the Thoughts on the Dissolution of Structure series is unique. I applied ink directly to a flat acrylic plate with a toothbrush, writing in each layer with the end of the toothbrush. Words were also added in silver ink by letterpress printing metal type over the first layer of ink. All work was done with a Vandercook 4 cylinder press, on cotton paper.
Amada Press is the private letterpress studio of Seattle visual artist and designer Amy Redmond. The main focus of her work is on handset typography using metal and wood type. Amy offers letterpress classes for beginning and advanced students through Partners in Print and teaches typography at the School of Visual Concepts. Her professional design work can be viewed on AmyRedmond.com.