Portfolio > Drawings and Prints

Ritual
Ritual
Etching, Aquatint, and Drypoint
17 x 24 plate, 21 x 29 paper
2014


Ritual captures a candid moment of intimacy which is vaulted out of the context of daily life by the lens of the viewer, and into the immortal halls of religious iconography. Through the shared ritual of our gender presentation, the figure of my close friend and I are bound in the love and support of sisterhood. The lipstick is our anointing oil and for this fleeting second it comes only as a benediction, before it—like so many other things— must be born with courage in the face of the world outside.
Etching gives the image a richness, and depth of history, so unique to printmaking. There is both a permanence and implacableness in the multiple that lets an image travel between locations and viewers, institutions and apartments, collectors and friends. This quality I feel is perfectly suited to the reclamation of classical representation and the craft of fine printing. I believe that even though these skills have spent so long tied-up with luxury they can also accomplish much in aid of the critical voice.