My plan is to multiply this genetically modified cat x100 and then make a coat:

I have been thinking a lot about multiples and pondering printmaking lately.  In particular I’m interested in artists whose “original” works are as much influenced by their print practice as vice versa.

To this end I’ve been listening to webinars (you try living on an outpost island for more than 2 weeks without developing a raging webinar habit) with printmakers, publishers, and people like Dick Solomon of Pace Editions.  And this has obviously dropped me down Frank Stella/Jim Dine/Jasper Johns/Agnes Martin/Chuck Close/Ed Moses-type rabbit holes more than a few times.

As a result of all of this I find myself experimenting with a suite of Logo Creatures that I’m developing in layers.  For example the above Obese Logo Cat was done in two layers: first I painted the cat using a wash of sumi ink and then I did the second layer of “K” branding in oil paint.

So far creating pieces using this type of distinct layering has been strangely liberating – my paintings are always very layered but in a different, more traditionally painterly way where I’m constantly pushing into and pulling out of various layers to find form.   I think part of why I find this more print-based approach freeing is because I have less control over it: a layer happens quickly and then I move onto the next layer rather than going back into the first layer and developing the form from that.  I wonder how/if these two methods of painting will meld?  How can these ideas translate into actual printmaking?  I usually find answers through the process of creating so I look forward to seeing what happens as I continue on with my kitties, elephants (my what lovely tusks you have!), aardvarks and other denizens of the savanna destined for the fashion market.

I do best with seeing things in hand so ordered some prints from Endless Editions which just arrived and I’m now delighted to have in my studio!  Nothing inspires like Al Gore.