Decisions 12, the second print in the development of the Doors and Keys Triptych
A large traditional copperplate mezzotint, 12, 70×100 cm.
Decisions 12 Mezzotint
Mezzotint is a time-consuming endeavor. Working the textured copper plate with hand scrapers and burnishers gives one plenty of time to think about how the plate will develop. Time to think about what you want this print to say to your audience, what symbolism to use, where you want your emphasis to lay.
While working on the first Decisions print, I was thinking about textures and tones and also about life and the choices one makes and needs to make. I didn’t feel that I was finished with this idea after this Decisions mezzotint and decided to begin another door print thinking that maybe this would turn into a series like the pencil drawings.
I chose a door that I had seen at either Chios or Thessaloniki in Greece. This particular door had character and the flaking paint and wood texture seemed like a good challenge.
I began with just the door. I really got into the textures of the old wood and the stone door frame. As I was working, this was in 2012, there was some sort of international military conflict happening which brought back many memories of the Viet Nam era in US history. I began to think about why people decide to go to war. What made them decide that conflict was a solution to anything?
The Decisions 12 mezzotint slowly evolved into a statement about the futility of war. I decided to add the Byzantine wall on either side of this door to represent the fact that people have been at war since time began. The chipped paint at the bottom of the door turned into flames and the path to the door is strewn with jagged rocks. Possibly this door when opened would lead to a better place.
I kept thinking about how and why people make decisions and realized that there is almost always a catalyst that makes or at least helps one make a decision. Sometimes people flip a coin when they cannot decide, sometimes they make a positive/negative list of reasons for a decision, often they are influenced by friends, or even by mis-information. But if you dig deep there is always something that triggers one’s decision. This is when the idea of keys came to me. Keys were the perfect symbol to portray this idea of doors and decisions. They are the catalyst that opens or doesn’t open doors.
To illustrate this idea of a catalyst and also to link this print to the previous Decisions mezzotint I added nest on top of the door and put a key in the nest. As the egg in the nest of the first Decisions print symbolizes hope, this key in the nest of the Decisions 12 print also symbolizes hope. But more than that it reflects on solutions to the problematic situations that decisions evoke.
Author: Chris Nowicki | Archive | Email | Voicemail #14
Professor of Printmaking at the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Art and Design in Wroclaw, Poland.