Combining Color Xerography with the Techniques of Silkscreen and Intaglio

Leonardo, Vol. 17, No.1, pp. 27-32, 1984. Printed in Great Britain. 0024-094X/84 $3.00+0.00 Pergamon Press Ltd. COMBINING COLOR XEROGRAPHY WITH THE TECHNIQUES OF SILKSCREEN AND INTAGLIO Frances Valesco* with Suzanne Fried** 1. Introduction Over the twenty-one years during which I have been involved in printmaking, my work has evolved from using traditional etching techniques to a combination of several media, primarily silkscreen and xerography. I have found that my use of the printmaking medium has expanded as technology expands. My interests are now in using newer technological print methods coupled with more traditional printmaking art media. Here I discuss how my work integrates and develops this multimedia approach. Illustrated as subject matter in the prints are a variety of animal images combined with graffiti and calligraphic brushstrokes. Because of my continually changing dialogue with printmaking , my work can be seen as a narrative of my personal psychological state and my concerns with experimenting with various print media. On a parallel level, I combine ancient symbols with representations of present-day artifacts to achieve this integration on both a symbolic and technical level. Through my skills as an artist I intend to help the viewer participate in my vision of the world and perhaps transfer that vision to his own. 2. Sources and Evolution My career as a printmaker began when I was first introduced to copper plate etching. It was my last semester at the University of California at Los Angeles as a painting major and I took a required class in printmaking. The instructor, John Paul Jones, had an enthusiasm for the intaglio process that was very infectious. In addition, he gave me complete and undivided attention in each conversation and inspiring feedback on my ideas. I began exploring the delicate shapes of insects, which lent themselves easily to the detailed work of etching. I did not like insects, and this is precisely why I was drawn to them as a subject for prints. I hoped to purge this fear by putting the images on paper. I believe that in reproducing the objects of our fear through art we are recreating an ancient ritual that allows us to defuse the feared object and use it to our advantage. "There was a time ... when animals ... were considered gods ... Man assigned to them appropriate powers, names and spirits" [1]. For me, naming the image, committing it to paper, was important. It served to frighten away the evil spirits and demons connected with it, while allowing me to endow myself with its heroic features. In 1972 I went to India. After almost a year there the rootlessness of travel became disconcerting. I responded to the *Artist, 135 Jersey Street, San Francisco, CA 94114, U.S.A. "Writer, 4144 25th Street, San Francisco, CA 94114, U.S.A. (Received 7 March 1983) 27 lack of~ ~xed home by dr~wing cows and water buffalo-seeing them sitting contentedly In fields or wandering in the streets gave me a point of focus. I internalized their serenity and it gave me the stability I needed. I arrived in San Francisco in 1975 and started painting murals. I was employed by the San Francisco Neighborhood Arts Program on projects that included painting murals in various neighborhoods. The community walls were covered with graffiti, and it had a great impact on me. The effect of the graffiti was harsh. But although the messages were often negative, the texture of the paint on the walls coupled with the immediacy of a statement by some unknown street artist claiming his territory interested me for its strong psychological and emotional impact. I believe that graffiti is in itselfa modern magical symbol and a ritual act. The graffitist is an urban shaman who creates a coded ritual [2]. For seven years I was surrounded by walls filled with graffiti. As a result of this exposure my prints began to include these symbols. At first I took the words literally off the walls and placed them in my work. This eventually evolved into creating my own graffiti, using the same gesture of writing but with personal symbols. 'Fence XIV' (Fig. 1) is an example...