Laci Stewart

Laci Stewart

Printmaking [Irondale, AL]

Places, animals, and inanimate objects are used to express memories through personification.  Separately, these tangible objects have no relation to the ideas being expressed, but when combined and displayed in colors and contexts that give one the sense of a past time.  They successfully display personal recollections brought together and separated by time and journeys.  The most recent series of mono prints and etchings utilize the above ideas.

The objects depicted in the etchings and mono prints are suspended by fishing line to represent the uncertainty of relationships with family and friends through time and the aspects of life, which are only partially controlled by one.  Just as with fishing, the outcome of our lives and relationships with others are never completely known.  While fishing, the chance of leaving the waters edge with more than one came with or the other option of losing everything on the line, relates to experiences one has throughout their life.  The strong associations people have with objects and places are a major component in the work.  These associations often result in a nostalgia.  This nostalgia plays a major role in the recognition of these memories through the objects and places which are depicted.  The use of places and objects which are typically southern deepen the sense of the actual memories being expressed.      

The focus of my work has headed towards processes that involve transfer, especially etching and mono printing.  The process of transfer offers the artist a further connection with the ideas that are being expressed.  This transfer relates to the transfer of emotion and relationships of people to objects that become sentimental by memories being associated with them.  The use of stencils to create depth and windows to multiple layers of the work is effective when related to the layering of memories.  The use of color is important to the overall nostalgic quality of my work.  The colors must relate to a place in time or a place in the memory of that time.  For instance, if a recollection of an event triggers a memory of dead leaves then the colors must relate to the warm tones in the leaves.  All the elements and color combine to more appropriately convey the concept.