Eileen McClellan
Using vintage photos, photos that I have taken as well as family history, I explore possible conversations. There seems to be a sort of confrontation that occurs by bringing an enigmatic notion to life on paper by means of an etching or a monotype. I can invent and embellish by inserting a story of my own or I can examine the reality. By doing this examination, unpleasant truths can be dealt with and sorted out. Either way, the image may pose a question or reveal its identity through the printmaking process itself.
My primary printmaking process has long been the monotype. I use collage and incorporate textures, vintage papers, and old prints - serving to unify the composition. I am currently exploring the intaglio print process via etching on copper and carborundum gel on plexiglas. Although these processes are used mainly for the printing of editions, they quite often lead me right back to the monotype.
Images from Left to Right
Miasma, etching, aquatint, chine colle, 2019
Isolation, carborundum, drypoint, 2020
Limbo, monotype and collage, 2019
I Can Still Remember, monotype, screen print, collage, 2018
The Distance is Palpable, etching, aquatint, stencil, collage, 2017
Solace in Memories, monotype, stencil and collage, 2016