Etchings, 2013

In 2013 the friendship with Patrick Wagner of Black Heart Press led to a two week effort in collaborative printmaking. This project was initiated by Patrick, and resulted in a series that mirrored and expanded on various formal ideas that I first established in my paintings.

Patrick approached me, organized flights from Vienna to Helsinki (two of them), organized accomodation and access to the art universities’ printshop. Wow. (here’s an interview I conducted with Patrick back in 2014, for more detailled infos about his mind and soul).

Collaborative printmaking is one of Patrick’s true passions, and also was the focus of his MA thesis. The series focuses on a variety of symbols and meanings that found their way in my other works from these years: trees, root-abstractions, geometric abstractions of figurative ideas, etc.

As of 2021, this series hasn’t ever been exhibited in its entirety. One day though..

Patrick Wagner: “What got me interested was the alchemy, the sensuality of a grimy, seasoned etching room – smelling of lacquer, asphaltum, acid.. Optimally it’s dark outside – in the art academies I’ve always preferred working at nights, having the shop entirely for myself. The plate is degreased and fresh out of the aquatint box, melted on with a flame of sorts, submerged in a tray full of nitric acid – kitschy stuff like that was what got me hooked.” (from this interview)