Carolyn Pomponio

When I was well into this series of prints, I realized once again that creating art is definitely cyclical. In the beginning are fleeting thoughts, plucked from dreams and pieces of conversation which are caught in a little black journal. Through time, the nucleus of the idea takes form and a concept of the whole is born. The printing process begins with this concept and the image on the paper begins to appear.

Printing transparent color on color, masking some areas and opening up others, the image begins to form its interior space. Alternatively, the printing process could be reductive – selectively removing ink from the plate, printing the plate, re-inking, removing, re-printing – and here, too, this cyclical process produces its own interior spaces. Other printmaking media in this exhibit, relief and intaglio, reflect the bits and pieces of these serene spaces - the minutiae of our lives.

Many months later, when I have completed my body of work, I repair to my own quiet interior space - to relax, reflect, recharge – and to respond to those fleeting thoughts that circle, just out of grasp, a dance of new ideas.

I received my printmaking degree from George Mason University in 1982 and founded the Washington Printmakers Gallery in 1985. I teach alternative printmaking technique workshops for the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution and the Lee Arts Center. My works are in the collections of law firms, universities, embassies, museums, corporations and individuals worldwide.

September 2005