"The monoprints in this series look convincingly like collage, as if many individual components are glued onto the paper, but, in actuality, they have no separate parts at all but are one continuous surface forged by the press." -Diane Cionni
The Meta Mixaphors series is comprised of 12 prints: ten vertical prints are sized at 25 x 19 inches and two horizontal pieces are 25 x 45 inches and 25 x 44 inches. The vertical prints are priced at $1800 unframed and the horizontal prints are $3600. Mixed media materials used in the printing include solar and copper etchings, watercolor, silkscreen, and oil stencils. The prints are cut with an irregular "bleed" (image goes to the edge) border so that delicate details lead the viewer's eye into the complex compositions.
Diane Cionni reveals the first layer of The Slippery Slope of Being Buoyant, which builds in value and density.
Upon first glance, the viewer feels intimately involved with this series of prints. The elements in the prints appear as if they can be picked off the paper and kept as souvenirs. With time, the viewer realizes that the intertwined colors and shapes are "one continuous surface". They overlap, nestle with, and repel one another, resulting in compositions filled with quiet tensions and energetic density. We find ourselves wondering how the print was made, pondering the immensity of the artist's imagination, and delighting in discovering new elements.
How were these prints made? Diane Cionni is a painter working across the mediums of drawing, printmaking, and design. She collects endless patterns, shapes, and forms inspired by nature as resources. By collaborating with Master Printer, Sue Oehme, Diane integrates her elements and drawings into a broad spectrum of printmaking processes. Together and separately, Diane and Sue created more than 150 various sized solar and copper plates in addition to hundreds of vellums, inked with watercolors or oil based inks.
The monoprints were composed on the press bed, balancing intensive problem-solving and intuitive decision-making. "Each monoprint is a product of piles of interlaced inked stencils, etching plates and other assorted overlapping, puzzle-like components laid in layers upon the surface of the paper". After almost an hour of arranging elements, running the print through the press is a climatic event, building excitement for the final pull. At last, the print is resolved when Sue and Diane pull hundreds of vellum elements off the paper to reveal thoughtful color relationships, intertwined patterns, balanced compositional design.
The monoprints were composed on the press bed, balancing intensive problem-solving and intuitive decision-making. "Each monoprint is a product of piles of interlaced inked stencils, etching plates and other assorted overlapping, puzzle-like components laid in layers upon the surface of the paper". After almost an hour of arranging elements, running the print through the press is a climatic event, building excitement for the final pull. At last, the print is resolved when Sue and Diane pull hundreds of vellum elements off the paper to reveal thoughtful color relationships, intertwined patterns, balanced compositional design.
Solar plates, oil stencils, and watercolor vellums are arranged on the press bed to overlap and weave
Diane and Sue's teamwork fill the studio with youthful play, innovative inspiration, and lots of laughter. The exciting nature of Diane's process in the Meta Mixaphors series, makes hours in the print shop fly by. Diane chose to preserve the rectangular composition, yet invite leading elemental lines to hang off the rectangle. Print assistants, Hollis Moore and Teddy Benson used Exacto knives to carefully cut around small elements that poke out of the original border. The prints will be presented framed, floated against a soft white museum board.
A handful of the Meta Mixaphors series, in combination with paintings and installation will be Diane's contribution to SPACE Gallery's Nature's Line's exhibition, which runs June 18-July 25 in Denver's Santa Fe Arts District.The artist reception is Thursday, June 18th from 5-8 pm. Nature's Line includes work by John Wood, Karen Sharer, Ian Mclaughlin, Taiko Chandler, Carlene Frances, Miguel Edwards, and Laura Wait.
A handful of the Meta Mixaphors series, in combination with paintings and installation will be Diane's contribution to SPACE Gallery's Nature's Line's exhibition, which runs June 18-July 25 in Denver's Santa Fe Arts District.The artist reception is Thursday, June 18th from 5-8 pm. Nature's Line includes work by John Wood, Karen Sharer, Ian Mclaughlin, Taiko Chandler, Carlene Frances, Miguel Edwards, and Laura Wait.
Toot Sweet Chariot, 2015
mixed media
25 x 44 inches
$3600
mixed media
25 x 44 inches
$3600