Marcus

Method: Push engraving, etching, drypoint, aquatint, sanding, grinding, scraping

Matrix: Recycled, custom cut zinc plate

Printing Ink: Gamblin Bone Black Etching Ink

Paper: Hahnemuhle Copperplate Warm White

Hand Coloring Ink: Water-based ink

Size: 4" x 8"

Year: 2022

Marcus v1 | Hand Colored Intaglio | 4" x 8" | 2022
Marcus v1 | Intaglio | 4" x 8" | 2022

Description: Mark the Evangelist is often depicted as a lion and conceptual and visual inspiration came from medieval illuminated manuscripts, The Book of Mark, Christianity, and alter pieces. This plate is a recycled zinc plate from my undergraduate studies. It was ground, scraped, sanded, and burnished to remove most of the original etching marks, but some remained and blend with the new engraved markings. One goal was to simulate the looseness and back and forth of mark making with a pencil on paper and then erasing repeatably. This can be challenging with engraving, as once the mark is made, it must be scraped out of the metal to erase it, then new marks carved in. These heavily worked plates with marks that are both measured and chaotic, represent my inner demons, questions, and confusion around religious topics and themes.

Marcus Plate