Inspired by the bleakness of the midwestern winter's onset, I began re-thinking light and its place in the relief image. This little gem is further inspired by the "window-within-a-picture" view. As a viewer, imagine yourself in a dimly-lit room, looking out a curtainless window on to the first snowfall of the season.
Winter Solstace spawned several other "regional" themed prints, all playing similar tricks with the reductive and reversed nature of the print matrix. Basically, this is an undergrad printmaking experiment gone right! I was so freakin' sick of the limited choices in printmaking papers: white or off white... Ooooooooo... I scoured my little college town to find something "new" in paper. I cannot for the life of me recall what it is called - I know it was Asian in origin (the best stuff always is!) and I know it has long string-like fibers running through it. It is quite remarkable to hold it up to a light source and observe the moments of opacity and translucency, interrupted by my image on the surface. The act of holding it to a light source completely changes the image as well, as black becomes a shrouded patchwork fibers and light. How I ever got the ink to stay on the paper amazes even me.