On the Surface and Through the Middle to the Other Side: New Prints by James Sullivan
Flatbed is pleased to announce ten new editions by James Sullivan of Dallas, Texas. Sullivan, who is known for his practice in a number of media including sculpture, sculptural installation, performance, drawing, and prints, was one of the first artists to collaborate with Flatbed since the recent relocation to Drossett Drive. The newly published etchings are currently a part of his exhibition titled “Unfinished Business” at Conduit Gallery in Dallas, Texas.
This new series of prints originated from the use of digital imaging of natural forms. Sullivan probes at the natural form of rocks, mapping the surfaces and virtually “slicing” the rocks. These images have the characteristics of Sullivan’s interest in the porousness of surface, or his observation of “obdurate presence.” The 3-D scanning technology used to map the surfaces and interiors resulted in digital line drawings which were used to create copper-plate etchings. Printing three images titled Red Cut 0,30, Red Cut 0,50 and Red Cut 0,-50 from the copper plates onto delicate translucent Japan gampi paper with red ink, the minimal lines glow and transcend any perception of gravity He used black ink on gampi for the double images titled Scoria (Patched) and Scoria (Sliced). Alternately, Sullivan printed all five images onto a smooth, warm white paper surface using red ink for the Red Cut prints and black for Scoria (Patched) and Scoria (Sliced). The resulting images tease us making it difficult to understand front from back. We see all surfaces at once and they are both flat and dimensional. Sullivan bends optical physics.
The resulting editions are small editions of four. See all resulting etchings in the slide show above and link to the listings on our website. Below, enjoy a video of the pulling of Red Cut 0,-50 from the inked copper plate.
