Steph's Sixth Sense

My biggest challenge has always been to slow down and simplify. While working on the sense of smell I created 2 different plates. The first was a memory of the smell and the second the actual smell. The second plate was much simpler and more contemplative. I simplified. Those concepts of slowing down and simplifying translated into "shut up and let the print speak" for this final project. So for this plate that is what I did.

I spread all the prints I had made in the week at UF out on my studio floor and listened to what they had to say. Three prints reveled themselves as belonging together beyond aesthetics.

"The Sixth Sense" collage art work is a combination of a double run calligraphic print inspired by my sense of touch (foreground), a single run of my second smell inspired plate (middle ground), and a single run of a different touch inspired calligraphic print (back ground).

Individually, each one of these prints was missing something. The meditative dual figure was finding inner peace alone and separated from the world, while the two calligraphic prints were raging with energy, yet emitting two different vibes. My quest then became to merge the peaceful with the chaotic to find a meaningful balance.

The negative space in the foreground print alluded to an eye within the textures that would reveal the meditative figure if allowed to be removed. So I began carving away at the print. I soon realized that I just needed to put "critic" aside and let the print speak for itself and guide my knife. By allowing myself a few moments of silence I could finally listen close enough to hear what my eye wasn't seeing.