“Printmaking is a link between the different aspects of my art making process and a way in which to push into new territories.” -Diane Cionni
Steamboat Springs based artist, Diane Cionni, collaborated with Master Printer Sue Oehme this February for her second project at Oehme Graphics. Diane makes paintings, drawings, sculptures, and videos motivated by her tremendous imagination. She collects bits and pieces of her ideation to form elements in her artwork. Scientific charts, growth patterns in nature, geometric diagrams, devotional art, and doodles multiply into resources. Diane directly and indirectly implements these elements through a diverse array of printmaking processes; immersing in all printmaking has to offer. Before Diane and Sue even began printing during this project, Diane prepared hundreds of plates, including hard ground etchings, solar plates, thermofax, watercolor screenprints on vellum, styrofoam plates, and stencils. Sue and her assistants helped prepare these elements by cutting down, shaping, and sanding solar plates. Each plate’s unique shape fits into the complex puzzle of intertwining elements.
Diane conceived of a color palette that references traditional Buddhist paintings. Pale, muted grays and beiges, are complimented by splashes of Vermillion reds, Cerulean blues, silver, and “chocolate”. Diane paints with brayers onto her stencils while Sue wipes and rolls the etchings.
The first layer on each of the prints is composed of two 12″ x 16″ solar plates vertically stacked to make a 24″ x 16″ print. The solar plates were inked in beige and blocked out with uninked stencil. Diane records the missing elements to be added later.
In the second layer Diane collages woven clusters of elements. Each element blocks bits and pieces of another; enhancing the theme of unpredictability and play. The resulting prints look 3D. The viewer considers reaching into the print to pull stencils off and reveal new elements. (We actually do keep finding stencils to be removed!)
Shown below are Diane’s plates in progress. Hundreds of vellum stencils, stamps, and etchings filled the Oehme Graphics studio during her project. She made use of almost every scrap on unimaginable material and turned it into something beautiful.
Diane’s resources exponentially multiply and she somehow keeps track of each element as if it is an crucial character in the storyline. Together Diane and Sue pull the prints together into structured, balanced compositions. By resourcefully breaking all the printmaking rules, the collaborative team aligns Diane’s complex imagination onto sheets of paper. “The relationship between the forms [suggests the] meaning similar to signifiers in written language, while referencing the interacting fragments that one might see beneath the lens of a microscope.”
Stay posted to see Diane Cionni’s final pieces. Sue and Diane will work together later this month to complete the seven monoprints and an intaglio edition print.