Artist's Statement
Patterns in Nature
I make prints based on natural forms using the traditional waterbase woodblock
technique of Japan. I use images of flowers, insects, fish and other organic
forms in repeating patterns that often take the shape of mandalas. I use a
computer to work out these complex, interweaving patterns, and transfer the
patterns to blocks to cut and print with waterbase pigments. I also print
digitally on handmade paper, Mylar and fabric.
I use the steps of printmaking as a framework to locate myself in the natural
world. The careful planning, the close examination of detail and the engagement
with materials are my tools for understanding. Planning images in the computer
has allowed my work to become at once more detailed and more abstract. The absence
of time, scale and gravity in virtual space parallels the present tense character
and infinite detail of esoteric Indian art. Both have contributed to the introspective
quality of my work.
APRIL VOLLMER is an artist who lives and works on the lower east side
of Manhattan. She earned her MFA in printmaking from Hunter College in 1983.
Focusing primarily on Japanese woodcut, she also works in the computer, often
combining traditional and contemporary techniques. She traveled to Japan in
the fall of 2004 to work with the Nagasawa Art Park woodcut program. She has
taught workshops at Japan Society, the Lower East Side Printshop, Pyramid Atlantic
and Dieu Donne Papermill, and written articles on printmaking for journals
including Printmaking Today and Contemporary Impressions. Her prints been
exhibited at AIR Gallery, the Islip Art Museum, Henry Street Settlement, and
internationally.
|
Breathing Out, April Vollmer, 2004
Photograph by Mike Mosall
Cherry, April Vollmer, 2004
Photograph by Mike Mosall
For more information about the artist and the technique please
visit:
www.aprilvollmer.com
|