Gelatin Prints

Artist Statement

For these works, the process was the most important part. My main idea was simply to explore a new medium and to have fun with it. I spent a lot more time working on the piece called “Mountains of Vibrant Green.” This was a fun piece to make, and I enjoyed experimenting with the layering of the acrylic on top of the gelatin print. I was inspired by the way that all of the rubber bands in “A Bunch of Little Sea Creatures” all seems to move together. The way they took up the space turned out to look like little moving creatures to me, and because of the blue color, I decided to call them sea creatures.

These works were made using a 5” by 5” Gelatin pad. It is also made using rubber bands to help lift off some of the ink. Printing ink and acrylic paint were both used. However, on the actual gelatin block, I only used printing ink. The paint was added later. Using the ink was interesting because it left a cool pattern after the print had been lifted and dried.

This project began with learning how to make prints using gelatin blocks. I had never done this before, but after experimenting a little in class, I was able to produce a few prints that I liked. In the “Mountains of Vibrant Green” piece, the process was longer. I started in the typical way of putting down the ink, but then a friend and I were fascinated to see if we could create the pull string art that we had done before. This is a method that involves coating a piece of string in paint, and then laying it on a piece of paper which then is covered with another piece of paper, and after putting a heavy book on top, you pull out the string. This leaves behind an interesting flower/spiral-looking design. After we had completed this, I got the idea to add more of these flower designs. At home, I used acrylic paint to add four more of these flowers.