Véronique Mermaz
Washed 04 is the outcome of a printmaker’s long-term experiment. The image combines four fluid and free drawings hand painted with lithographic ink. The reticulation effect – a characteristic of lithographic ink – becomes here a turbulent texture with curved forms that fold in on themselves and evoke water, trickling or flowing. Perhaps the flow of time.
The printing process – layering several drawings in a sensitive and intuitive order – creates bulges and swellings. The shape and texture of each colour blend with the other colours, seeking a harmonious form that allows the light of the paper to shine through. Each layer interacts with the other layers, composing, concealing and revealing, like a veil or a membrane. In places, volume emerges from the paper: Washed 04 literally makes folds.
As part of a series, Washed 04 is an experiment with time: the exploration of a slow and traditional printmaking process (lithography) that is in itself the truth in the work, undermined by a resulting image, constantly re-considering form and composition and trying to reach harmony.
