Ostinato 1-38 is a series of unique woodcuts inspired by musical improvisation or the jam session - a process both structured and intuitive. An ostinato (Italian, meaning obstinate) is a melodic phrase or rhythm continually repeated throughout a composition. This series of woodcuts reuses the same woodblocks in repeated but varied ways creating a series of rhythmic patterns, all different but sharing the same roots.
First, a freehand line drawing that captures a sense of tail-chasing movement is made then transcribed to make a set of wooden blocks. This linear starting point can be compared to a musical riff - something to be expanded, elaborated.
Once cut, the wooden matrix is used to improvise on paper. The composition is layered intuitively with rhythms syncopated by colour, like a visual form of call and response. Printing wet-on-wet allows an element of serendipity in a colour blending process charged by the myriad of outcomes. A sense of urgency comes from the method bringing ...... Read onlin
