CALIFORNIA STATE UNPiERSITY ~ NORTHRIDGE
SOME PRINTS: Al'l" EXPLORATION OF
SOME
GEC~1ETRIC
SH_~~ES
IN SPACE
An abstrac.:t submitted in par1:ial satisfaction of t.he
reqd.rements for the degree of Haster of Arts in
Art
by
Alice Baird Parkins
Ju.ae
1979
The Abstract of Alice Baird Parkins is approved:
Tom F. Fricano
·walter 0 • Gabrielson
"~lerrv
E"T-M~Miii;~--
--
California State University, Northridge
ii
ABSTRACT
SOME PRINTS: AN EXPLORATION OF
SOHE GEOMETRIC SHAPES IN SPACE
by
Alice Baird Parkins
}faster of Arts in Art
Minimal Art is strongly appealing to me; I 1m drm.;rn to it as
well as i.ts predecessors as iron filings are drawn to a magnet. J
feel that my
wo:r~k
is a variant of this movement. In my search for
sh1plicity and a feeling of
spaciousness~
I
work~
large for the senw: o',_:'
actual physical space which it gives. I w·ork with geometric shapes and
.L:tneHr
Eystems because I feel they are basic. I use the pr:lnary
colu:;_·s, earth colors, i:0.dustrial colors and 'oxyd:i.zed' colors becmwe
they are basic. Basic. elements make for simplieity and an ardent
~::ear.:-:h
for nimplic.i.ty leads to Hinimalism. Allen Leepa, in _1:l_}.!d:E_1_9:.1. 1\.rt
.~!!..4. _"€_:~;j_~_E!£Y. !~2:nt~- (1968) wrote:
11
Reducing the number of factors
deaJt with in any particular work of art in order to zero in better on
hmv they can hC'. used most directly in a visual mediw"TI is the task
undertaken by the Minimal Artist. 11 I find thi.e endeavor rewarding in
these days of chaos and confusion,
In my printmaking, I use the technique of soft-grounding mostly
since I am fascinated with scrap objects and this method is the best
'l:vay to use some of these things for :i..illagery in the etching proeess. For
example, iu Rectangles I a piece of hardware cloth of grid size
2
11
x I+" created one hundred and eight
1
cells 1 which line up length-
wise in the same direction as the rectangle of the full-size zinc
plate and are proportional to it. This print is the most complicated
visually in this geometric study and is chronologically the first, I
rolled the etched plate with white ink and printed i t on g:r·ay
Riv~~s
BFK paper- As I wanted to see a modular finished product, I 1m;de four
of these.: two in the 'upper right' corner of the paper and t\vo in the
~upper
left 1
•
Hhen these were dry, I mixed a graphite black and, using
the same plate in the same orientation, printed it intaglio diagon2.lly
opposite the \>Ihite ones. Because of the relative sizes of plate and
paper, eacl1 print shows a white and a black indj:vidual whteh i1:_ter ....
mingle in the center of the paper and leave plain gray paper rectangles
in the remaining corners.
There are four ways to place these prints synm1etrically. Plate 1
shows the module and the print as arranged in my exhibition. Synm1etry
is &. major concern of mine; it is the most basic way to acheive. a sense
of balance, and balance is an integral part of simplicity.
Another found object that I used \vas a piece of ribbed heavy
vinyl. This creates even; simple lir. es when
soft~·grounded
on etching·
plates. The depth of the etch causes them to look any grade from
extremely delicate to ext:cemely rough. Using the same piece of this
iv
vinyl on three equilateral and congruent triangles, I left a 'base'
unlined on one, an
1
ape.,'{' on another and two
1
apexes' on the third.
Because of these basic differences plus the irregularities that I
allow to etch along with the major imagery, each of these triangles
has a character of its own. (Plate 2.)
Also, the line. system in association with the non-line portion
gives each of these plates its own sense of direction. l\Then the same
triangle is printed over itself with a change of orientation, it
becomes 'flat' again, a patterned shape with no direction. It is
useful to he able to treat these ple.tes in either way.·
He..'{agon II is a print which used only the 'base' module. and the
method of serial printi.ng which gives another type of direc·tion:
distance. Starting with a yello·w roll-up, the plate was printed on
white Rives BFK. Without re-inking, the plate was moved to p:rJ.nt again
in juxtaposition to the first and with orientation proceeding
logically . .And again, as sketched below-:
In the same manner a red was printed intaglio follmv-ing this plan:
Then a blue:
A mirror image makes the pair. (Plate 3.) To me, pairs are basic.
Hexagon I is this module printed in a much simpler way using
the technique of simultaneous intaglio and roll-up. Its other half
was made with the 'apex' module. Hexagon II needed etghteen rune
tln~ough
the press for its printing; Hexagon I only six. (Plate. 4.)
Two variations of the 'apex' module are Rhombus I and Double
EquiJ.atEo'raL Both >vere serially printed, allowed to dry, a differ10>.nt
color and orientation of the same plate overprinted. (Plate 5.)
Another ribbed vinyl experiment is Double Trapezoid. First the
plate, inked in a red, was serially printed across a sheet of white
Arches paper. When this was dry, the same. plate) inked in a. bJ.ue, \vas
again serially printed but in reverse order and orientat:ion across the
red ones, creating an unusual optical effect. (Plate 6.)
Red Trapezoid and Blue Trapezoid are two variations made with
this plate of seemingly endless possibilities.
(Plate. 7.)
Plate 8 is a photograph of the zinc plate with hard ground and
masking tape which served as the sign for my Master's exhibition.
My conclusions are that I've merely scratched the surface of
this subject matter made during the work for my Haster's degree. I've
.learned that through work, especially a concentrated effort toward a
goal) one developes oneself and ones abilities. Like the practicing of
vi
any human endeavor, all should improve in direct proportion to the
amount and quality of the time spent. I hope to be a. practicing artist
the rest of my life as art seems the best place to search for
simplicity.
vii
Plate 1
viii
·"
.....
-
:Plate 2
ix
Plate 3
X
.I
Plate 4
xi
.
··-~
~·.·
.
?late 5
xii
l
-
···~'
...· .
Plate 6
xiii
Plate 7
xiv
flate 8