NICOLE EISENMAN

PRINTS 2023

Nicole Eisenman’s recent prints from Jungle Press explore etching in two directions. The prints began as a“relief etching”, where Eisenman was able to draw on the copper plate, then etch the drawing into relief on the surface. Each plate was etched for hours. Then, the plate was inked with a roller and printed like a woodcut. The plates were then inked in the traditional intaglio method–creating two versions of the same image. A nuanced shift from one “interpretation” of the plate to a second creates a dialogue between the two inkings.

In “Smoker” we see a figure smoking at the bottom of the page. The smoke swirls around and above the head into a complex woven pattern.

In “Sleep Painting”, a reclining figure in bed is surrounded by a pattern of lines as the artist paints onto a small canvas.

“Old Queen” presents a world-weary monarch leaning in to the viewer. The gaze is shifted slightly downward, looking past us into the space of the room.

In “Three Heads”, the structure of a grid of lines dominates the format. The two figures below stare out of the picture toward the viewer. The two faces seem to meld together, sharing two sets of eyeballs. Above the couple, a larger skull-like head on its side looms forebodingly over all.

With “Architecture Head”, Eisenman uses the structure of the raised lines to construct a cityscape combined with the head of a figure. Printed in red, the overlapping lines suggest bridges and towers morphing into eyes, a nose, cheeks. There is a reward for the viewer who keeps looking through the network of lines, a labyrinth of drawing

– Andrew Mockler