Printmaking II

Soul of a tree

Divya Agrawal

We are living through extraordinary times. While humanity continues to negotiate the political power play around climate change, nature, in one sweep has shown us where the real power lies. With a heartfelt wish that we, as a race, own and remedy our recklessness in time, OTDB bring to you today an ode to nature in the form of artist Bryan Nash Gill's work.

Gill's (1961-2013) woodcut prints are a stirring tribute to the lives of gentle, generous giants called trees. A trunk cross section besides being a tally for a tree's age is also a repository for events related to a tree's life - seasons when it witnessed nature's plenty or otherwise, times it fended off a life threatening insect attack. 

These prints in effect are life stories condensed onto a sheet of paper, offering a peek into the complexities of other forms of life. 

"I found that things were as or more beautiful and complex inside than what was visible from the outside...
You'll never know what you're missing if you don't find some way to get inside and look" - Bryan  

Bryan has meticulously created these prints from salvaged wood. See more of Bryan's work on his website.

Watch the process here

Images: Copyright   Bryan Nash Gill

Text & creative layout copyrights: On the Design Boat  (http://onthedesignboat.wixsite.com/otdb)

 Printmakers I

One of Japan's foremost contemporary printmaking artists, Fumio Fujita's art is a beautiful blend depicting landscape, particularly trees and abstract patterns. Patterns are inherent to the natural world and Nature then is perhaps the unifying thread in all of Fumio's varied work.

Fumio Fujita belongs to the ‘sōsaku-hanga’ school of printmaking : an art movement in early 20^th cen Japan “that stressed the artist as the sole creator motivated by a desire for self-expression, and advocated principles of art that is ‘self-drawn’, ‘self-carved’ and ‘self-printed’ “ wikipedia

An absorbing blend of color and form characterise Fumio's printmaking - I was enchanted when I discovered his work.  See more here.

Images: Copyright Fumio Fujita

Text & creative layout copyrights: On the Design Boat  (http://onthedesignboat.wixsite.com/otdb)