Decisions And Keys, the first print in the development of the Doors and Keys Triptych, copperplate Mezzotint
Seven months in the making and created entirely by hand with traditional tools and printed by the artist.
Decisions and Keys
The process of making a copperplate mezzotint is time consuming and can be tedious. Each of the prints in my Decisions and Keys triptych took about seven months to complete. I use only three tools for my mezzotints which are a mezzotint rocker, a scraper and a burnisher, all the work is done by hand.
Doors and decisions are part of our everyday life. This life produces many barriers and problems, some are easily solved and some take major decisions and changes to overcome.
To progress past these everyday problems, we have to decide on a course of action which will eliminate, solve or postpone the issue.
This mezzotint work relates directly to problems and decisions. The door represents a sort of barrier. Doors are yin and yang, they open and close, they let you through or block your way and sometimes they are a gateway from the known to the unknown.
The shadow on this door raises questions about the door and its meaning. Is there a person approaching the door? Will he be able to open the door or will it be a barrier? Maybe it is a symbol of someone who has already passed through the door? These are some of the questions that I hope this work produces in the viewer.
The clock numbers in the broken upper window of the door frame symbolize the passage of time. When we need to make decisions, especially important ones, time may be a crucial factor. Regardless, time moves on and these clock numbers also represent the temporality of life.
The bushes next to the door represent the outcome of decisions. Although they look sinister and dead if you look closely, they have new leaves which along with the nest and egg above the door represent hope.
In the end the viewer will have to make his own personal decisions about this image just as he will have to make decisions about the ‘doors’ he or she is approaching in life.
Author: Chris Nowicki | Archive | Email | Voicemail #14
Professor of Printmaking at the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Art and Design in Wroclaw, Poland.