Current Art Work Available | The Artist | Artist's Statement
Cecilia Lieder
Artist's Statement:
I am a printmaker. My entire artistic
expression has been centered around the creation of original woodcuts and stone
lithographs. I have never found another medium that interested me as much or
fulfilled my aesthetic and expressive needs as completely. I enjoy the whole
process. I draw, make the color separations, carve the blocks, and hand print
all of my work myself. I still print the woodcuts with a wooden spoon or barren
which allows me greater flexibility and textural variety. I enjoy pushing the
limits of size and color in woodcuts using a synthesis of Western and Eastern
printing methods I have developed. Each color is printed from a separately
carved plate which is then keyed to all the other colors to make the final
image. In lithography, I have primarily been interested in drawing on the stone,
which is more responsive than any other drawing surface I have used. Moving back
and forth between these two printing media, with their great technical and
expressive differences, has created a satisfying balance for me.
The symbols of realism have remained constant in human experience and possess
powerful subconscious impact, accrued over millennia. Strongly tied to the
physical commonalties between people, realistic imagery can be simultaneously
accessible and profound. Through keenly focused observation of the natural world
around me, realistic accuracy becomes a kind of search for truth. In the
extended process of bringing an image into existence as a print, the meaning of
the subject matter - both abstractly and in my own growth - becomes clear to me.
In this way, the work that results is both a dynamic representation of my
discoveries, and the actual process of growth itself. Consciously using the
physicality of objects as a door to transcendence and growth in this manner, I
call intentional realism.
"My images are mantras of life. They resonate with the
symbolic meaning behind the surfaces of natural objects."
Artist's Profile
Artistic: After early experiments in abstraction and surrealism, at age 32 I began to focus on realistic subject matter exclusively while developing my work into multiple color prints. My prints have gradually evolved from an almost photographic obsession with detail into ease with selective use of detail, full (but not necessarily realistically) colored prints, and greatly expanded size. Over many years I have refined an aesthetic of realism which I call intentional realism. Realism has not been a barrier for me, but rather, a bridge to transcendent meaning and depth. The interplay between the realistic format and abstract intent has been a primary excitement for me in my artistic development. Form, color and composition have been my artistic preoccupations and strengths, and realistic representation became the workshop for disciplined exploration of these elements.. In the process, I have deepened my understanding of the significance of the relationship between art and its physical objects, and of the nature of the creative process itself. In the past 4-5 years, struggle has dissolved into a surprisingly fluid mastery of expression. If artistic development is a journey, then I have passed all concern about my sense of direction, and am enjoying the adventure.
Technical: Recently, I have been
mono-printing in combination with my woodcuts, and exploring abstracted,
expanded subject matter and digital printmaking with altered photographs. The
technical challenge presented in producing realistic images as prints has been
very satisfying to the craftsperson in me. I am constantly inventing new
printing variations, the more subtle the better. Technical mastery is an
integral part of my interest in printmaking.
WOODCUTS
Printing by the relief method, as in woodcuts, is the oldest kind of
printmaking. The basic technique is simple: the image to be printed is sketched
on the side grain of a block of wood, then the areas that are not to be printed
are cut away with knives or gouges. The remaining wood is then inked, and the
image transferred to paper by pressing or rubbing. Each color of a woodcut is
printed from an additional block which is keyed to the original block.
STONE LITHOGRAPHS
To make a lithograph, one draws an image on a
special Bavarian limestone with a grease pencil or any other greasy substance.
The stone is then treated with a solution of gum Arabic and a drop or two of
nitric acid which make the un-drawn areas repellent to ink and stabilize the
drawn areas. The stone is them moistened with water. The drawn areas - being
greasy - do not accept the water, but the un-drawn areas remain moist. Thus,
when the (greasy) printer's ink is rolled over the surface of the stone, it is
attracted and retained by the greasy drawn areas, but is repelled by the wet
surfaces. Dampened rag paper is then placed on the stone and pressure is applied
with a hand press, transferring the ink to the paper.
ABOUT THESE PRINTS
I have hand printed all of these prints in small
editions on archival rag or rice papers. They were originally conceived as
prints (either woodcuts or stone lithographs) and do not exist in any other
form. They are not reproductions.
ORIGINAL PRINTS
An original print is one in which the artist
creates the printing plates directly, and either hand-prints the plates or
supervises the hand-printing of them. No photographic reproduction process is
employed, and the final image does not exist in any other form than as a print.
Because they are hand made by the artist, they have a subtle but distinct
liveliness found only in original works of art.
There are other differences in quality between fine art original prints and
photographically reproduced prints. Original prints are produced on 100% rag
papers, with colorfast inks, and this provides the greatest possible longevity
for the work. Being hand-printed, original prints are usually produced in
relatively small limited editions. These prints will hold their value well,
like any other works of original art.
Each different color in a print has a separate plate and is printed separately,
keying it to the other colors on the paper to create the final image. Each
additional color adds to the difficulty of printing, and those with eight or
more colors represent a significant technical challenge for the hand-printer.
THE CARE &
PRESERVATION OF WORKS OF ART ON PAPER
Works of art on paper expand
and contract constantly, as the paper accepts and then loses moisture from the
air. Fine art prints are printed on 100% rag papers, which have the longest
history for preservation. There are rag papers still extant that are over 2000
years old. The rag content is usually cotton or linen, although hemp is now
being used again. Oriental papers, commonly called rice papers, are made from
kozo, an extremely durable acid-free fiber, and also have excellent archival
qualities.
It is important not to store these fine papers with poor quality papers. Modern
papers are made from wood pulp and contain a residue of the chemicals used to
process them. They can contaminate, stain and deteriorate the archival rag
papers. Do not store your prints next to pulp papers, chip board, or corrugated
board.
The frame you use is not as important as how the print in mounted and matted.
Mat boards and mounting materials should be 100% rag content or archival quality
and acid free. Prints are safer when matted. The mat lifts the glass away from
contact with the image on the paper. The glass used should be UV glass as added
protection from light damage. If they are not framed, prints should be stored in
cases or Solander boxes which are lined with 100% rag mat board, and the sides
sealed with linen tape, which is also acid-free. They should be stored flat. It
is preferable to mount the print to protect it from handling because even clean
hands can affect the paper. In mounting, care should be taken to use vegetable
glues, such as methyl cellulose or rice paste.
Review of "Bounty" by Sinclair Hitchings, Boston Public Library:
"A teacher and artist of broad aesthetic and technical range, Cecilia Lieder
produced a body of accomplished lithographs [and woodcuts] at EES [Experimental
Etching Studio]...Bounty is a fifteen color woodcut printed from ten
different woodblocks. Its vivid colors, and its texture and detail, are
reminiscent of late nineteenth-century ukiyo-e prints which combined the
use of brightly hued aniline dyes with spectacular virtuosic printing
techniques. However, this image has a twentieth-century feel. It recalls works
from the shin hanga or "new prints" movement which flourished in Japan
from about 1915 to 1940. This style combined the technical refinement of the
ukiyo-e with imagery influence by western art and by Japan's own avant-garde
printmakers of the previous generation. Bounty is parallel to shin
hanga in its combination of literal naturalism and expert woodcut
technique...Lieder's woodcut maintains an even, sharp focus over the entire
composition. Paradoxically, one effect of this intensity is to shift our focus
away from the fruits and vegetables to the forms and colors, and their balanced,
pleasing abstraction."
Quote, Cecilia Lieder:
"Form, color and light are the word of God in art."