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Rupert Deese

Slip/1 – Slip/8, 1998
The suite of etchings titled Slip evolved from preliminary drawings for a series of circular paintings called Ripples and Waves – monochromatic painted objects carved from plywood and shaped to resemble radiating, concentric waves. If cut down the middle, these target-like objects would reveal a wavy cross section. The preliminary drawings consisted of wavering lines, indicating wave pitch and interval.

In December, 1997, Deese made a series of 8 painted studies in preparation for the etching project. In each, white wave lines cleave a deep chrome green ground. In the Slip etchings the lines and ground remain, but the chrome green is modulated with layers of drawing: lines generated with hardground, softground and drypoint, and fields of aquatint. The suite, titled Slip/1 – Slip/8 is printed in chrome green ink from single copper plates of varying sizes on 14″ x 9″ Fabriano Artistico paper in an edition of 20.