Bio:
Susan Martin is a printmaker and teaching artist practicing in Raleigh, North Carolina. She specializes in small editions of traditionally made hand-pulled intaglio prints, always one at a time. When not emerged in art, Susan enjoys time with her offspring, her adopted pit mix, and listening to comedic podcasts (hello Smartless and Team Coco) while trotting at a leisurely pace.
Artist Statement:
Contrived objects precariously perched, one small shift and collapse is possible. As in life so goes this work: hopefully balanced, optimistically grounded, sometimes suspended, fictitious while flirting with a teetering reality.
My works begin as thoughtfully conceived drawings which are then transferred and drawn directly on copper (a printmaking technique known as drypoint). After the plate work is completed I ink and print in the traditional intaglio manner. I use a personal lexicon of imagery that play with tension, fragility, and quiet strength.
Post printing I often hand-color prints with a palette influenced by Japanese Ukiyo-e prints as well as early monochromatic photographs which were tinted. Through line, color, and technique my works are meant to be multi-faceted. I invite viewers into personal imagery evolved for interpreted narration.
Why printmaking when I could simply create refined drawings? I love the technical and aesthetic challenge that making prints involves, and that is why I’m the artist, printer and publisher of all my works. For my viewpoint a successful print requires the collaboration of both sides of your brain.
On technical process:
Most of my current work is done through the intaglio printmaking technique of drypoint. Drypoint is considered a “direct” method of plate making where marks are made by drawing directly onto plates, often copper, with a sharp instrument. The plates are then inked, wiped with tarlatan (a stiff cheese cloth) and run through an etching press with a sheet of dampened paper. It’s a method that dates back hundreds of years and one that I enjoy for its challenging nature, and the coercion and patience required to produce complex lines and tone. My instagram page has footage of me inking and printing a plate.