Shuvaprasanna - Works of Graphics

I n every mode of image-making we look for certain features, and facilities which, by virtue of their specificity, lend a special facet to our technical execution. In that mode and medium art acquires a distinctive character. What is specific about printmaking is that it replicates an original work. Therefore the matrix has to be prepared with special care so that several editions can be made of it. Centuries before the age of high-tech modernity, there was vogue of such means of producing and propagating art as woodcut, lithography and etching in which prints were taken of plates made of wood, stone or metal. In the history of world art we find, therefore, a vast treasure of amazing graphic prints. From Da Vinci to Duerer, Rembrandt to Picasso all great masters have each turned out excellent graphics through mediums and techniques of his own choice. India is no exception. Intaglio is one of the major techniques of etching prints taken off a metal plate. It is comparatively a new mode of print-making. William Hayter invented a new process of making intaglio, known as viscosity print, which enjoyed wide popularity. Many famed contemporary artists have worked with Hayter in his Paris Atelier 17, as a result the popularity of intaglio and the viscosity mode of making intaglio prints spread far and wide. This portfolio includes copies of those prints I did at various times mainly in the intaglio technique. In this medium, a metal plate is first covered with an acid resistant coat of mixed wax. The image is then cut into the wax coat baring the metal surface beneath. The bared area is given an acid bath. The acid bites into the metal, incising the image into it. Later the incisions are inked and a special kind of paper, lightly moistened, is pressed down upon them with a heavy roller, drawing out the ink to transfer the image to the paper. Basically this is the process of intaglio. Different graphic artists handle the medium differently. The medium, thereby, acquires diverse dimensions in the hands of the print-makers creating images, each in his own way, each to the need of his stylistic finesse. In one aspect graphic prints have a special visual quality, distinct from that of the artworks in other mediums. On the other hand, as print-making makes replication possible, an artwork reaches out to many art lovers without any loss to its originality and artistic merits. We, the artists, want to get to the people. That is why we turn to printmaking mediums besides painting on canvas, paper or other surface. We also like to make experiments. Making experiment is a major mode of creativity, which shapes art through a process of evolution. There is a continuity of art and culture in the history of civilization. In course of that continuity the artist thinks deeply and originally to grasp the essence of life and times and acquires all manners of creative expressions in order to reach the eternal goal of art, where truth and beauty remain real and unblemished.