Mixing ink pre-print
Pulling a jumbo print off the press
Jess Davison
My art enables me to communicate my experiences visually. I began working with printmaking media to further ways I could communicate as an artist. It was when I started creating large-format colored prints that I was able to find my artistic voice. I focus on portraiture, and I make images that involve much detail, that allows the image to come to life for the viewer.
Tarot cards are my subject matter because their symbology is historical, adaptable and easily read by the viewer. Tarot cards contain a wealth of meaning that I manipulate to create my own messages. Using the visual world of tarot, I build images by working with important traditional visual ideas, and incorporating representations of people from my own life experiences. Each image directly correlates to the familiar meaning on the card that it represents. As the series progresses, I have become bolder in my choices of border and background, allowing my composition to become increasingly more complex with each print.
Every element of the card is chosen to depict and enrich my personal story. Each work represents how I feel about the idea, the person, or the inspiration. I convey those feelings by using layering of color. Some cards have more obvious meaning, and some are more multi-layered. I would like my viewer to come to the work free of expectation and understanding, even when paired with the familiar language of symbols I use.
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