A collage is mixture of techniques where everything can be mixed: gluing, painting, drawing spraying etc.

When sculpting I work the model in cement. The arms – indicating the idea of movement – are set in a cement base and then I add cement bit by bit. When the figure is completed a moulder makes a negative impression, usually in wax or silicone, and then my model is cast in bronze or another kind of metal. All the structural characteristics are exactly replicated.

 

To complete the process a patina coating gives the sculpture its final appearance.

Printing graphic is a very old artistic process. Even over 1000 years ago the Japanese were expert in making wooden colour engravings. They were not alone, there was also Dürer and his magnificent copperplate engravings.

 

Copperplate or etching, the word originates from the Latin “radere” and means scratch. The idea is to make impressions in copper or metal plates so that the colour sticks. In the following hand printing my drawing is transferred onto paper.

 

Another possibility of making impressions in metal plates is by varying etching techniques. To name them all is impossible given the limited space available so I will just briefly mention a few which I mostly tend to use.

 

• Aquatinta: The most known surface etching and the one offering the most facets. It enables surface shades varying from white through grey to darkest black.
• Resist paste: Also known as “blowing up technique” or “sugar watercolour”. This technique allows me to achieve a brush stroke type of structure.
• Vernis mou: I can transfer a drawing onto the plate in a soft wax or produce material impressions.
• Line etching: Instead of making impressions in the metal plate I make them in an acid-proof covering such as paint. There is less resistance but the lines are more regular in the final print.

 

It goes without saying that the combining of various techniques knows no creative boundaries. This applies to the production of my metal plates. Further experimental possibilities exist in the actual printing. Extra colours in a completed etching are the result of consecutive printing of varying plates with differing colours. I sign and number my printed sheets. I usually limit the numbers of my reproductions and can be seen by the second number, 1/15 for example means the first print of a total production of 15 pieces. Test or originating prints are signed with e.a. (epreuve d’artiste) and these are often individual prints, originals.

 

The etching process is very complicated, time consuming and more often than not physically demanding but always exciting!