River Words
This artwork was created in response to the Theodor De Bry images of the St. John’s River. When one first looks at these images from the 1500’s they might appear old because of the color of the paper or style of type font. By looking beyond these initial surface elements of the De Bry’s I responded to what I considered his original sources of inspiration to be, the river, wildlife, and people. I feel these sources of inspiration, then and now, are probably more alike than different and therefore accessible to me as well. My goal was get to what it is about this specific physical environment that makes it unique.
I started by writing words that try to capture my thoughts when I stare at the river. I used these words and hand set printers type to letterpress word pictures. Multiple color linoleum relief print images of the river were also created to accompany the text images.
Description of artwork
16 separate images to be displayed as a group
framed size of each piece 16” x 13”