Thom Wright - Monoprints Art Statement, 2002
Tectonic Episodes
Living in California is viewed by non-Californians as tempting fate, waiting for the inevitable big one to hit. When, where, and how devastating? Earth scientists cannot yet predict earthquakes, but recent discoveries in earth plate tectonics are beginning to explain how the earth is alive, how we live on a complex of broken crust-like plates, and how the past foretells the future. And the earth is still in formation, giving rise to catastrophic events like the Mount Saint Helens volcanic explosion.
These mixed media monoprints present a metaphor of map making and a metaphor of a California quake that splits the North American continent. Maps themselves have a two-dimensional reality, and they have both a referent content and an internal design full of detail and color pattern. Each monoprint combines multiple map transfers to create a hypothetical space/time event. Instead of the micro-view at the human scale of a disaster, they present a pseudo-scientific view of the Pacific Basin tectonic plates, with “forecasted” episodes layered onto the geological record. Just as in media coverage of a disaster, there is a fascination with the grand picture, giving some comprehension of the unknown, and some appreciation for rhythmic patterns and graphical views.
Monoprint transfer processes on wood paneling are especially applicable to map constructs that appeal to my interests in science and art. Through commercially available copying technology, map replication can be altered and distorted in size, shape, color, and value. Additional changes are made in hand printing techniques to juxtapose, overlay, and fragment the prints, and combine them with coarser types of transfers made with stencil and mask. The parts integrate to the whole to tell the narrative in global proportion.
