Location: United States
Amy was introduced to intaglio printmaking as a teenager at the Lorenzo De Medici school of Fine Art in Florence, Italy. Since that time she has grown her practice from fine line and hard ground into subject matter which embodies all intaglio methods, multi-media techniques and drawing. After many years traveling abroad while perfecting her signature methods, she has settled in Brugge, Belgium and continues with her exhibitions and studio work daily.
These four works were created during one year of travel and intense self reflection. Through the inception of these portraits I was able to investigate myself. Although these faces and bodies do not mirror my own, they are drawn with a line and hand which is representational of my own struggle with the human condition. In a way, they are very much self-portraits.
“A Singular Valley of a Transformative Ruin”
This 90 cm x 100 cm drawing, mounted onto canvas with multiple dry ink wash, was completed in Florence, Italy in 2015. It is a personal anatomical study which was constructed to represent a landscape of transformation. All of the imagery represented were originally sketch studies from cadavers and anatomical wax representations, however, the anatomy has been severely altered and conjoined as a result of the artists' recurring dreams on the subject. The inner landscape is entirely from the artists' experiences and dreams and is a representation of her ongoing valley of evolution. Ever reminding the artist that often times, complete ruin is the only way to achieve the necessary transformation to evolve forward.
This 18 x 24 inch soft ground etching was printed with black ink on white heavyweight Rives BFK 24 x 32 inch paper. The print has been enhanced with watercolor and ink washes for atmosphere. The artist started this portrait with a basic idea of the frame and character of the face she wanted to portray. During the drawing process, the portrait become "it's own animal" and a new dynamic was formed between artist and subject as this etching was born. The title of this piece has been spelled in all lowercase letters to imply the continuous movement and development of this relationship, up until the completion of the edition when the ties are severed.
This soft ground etching is 18 x 24 inches and printed on 20 x 28 heavyweight 300 gm Fabriano paper."il canzoniere" is the title of the Italian poet Petrarco's first book of poetry, "songbook". The text separating the portrait horizontally is the first sonnet of "il canzoniere", credited with bringing Italian literature out of romanticism and into humanism. The portrait is of the Italian literary theorist and poet Pietro Bembo.
This 75 x 56 cm soft ground etching was printed with black ink, with hand painted atmosphere, on Rives BFK and a grey chine-colle. Utilizing linear movement in my work has always been a very strong facet of my subject matter. In this portrait I wanted to explore the beautiful flaws and unique hills and valleys of the skin of the hands, recognizing the hands as a form of portraiture with a strong gravitational narrative.
“i let it go”
“il canzoniere”
“Animal Hide”
