Paper Chain

Katie Baldwin, artist

born 1969

Paper Chain, 2014

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: color woodcut; string

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): variable
Object Diameter (Diameter): circles 38 mm
Object Diameter (Diameter): 1 1/2 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: R. Charles and Mary Margaret Clevenger Art Acquisition Fund

Accession number: 2016.0022.13

Not on display

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Brosseau Center for Learning: Six Degrees of Separation: Prints from KU and Beyond

Made with the traditional Japanese woodblock print technique mokuhanga, each of the paper circles on the chain shows a blown-up view of a seemingly random detail. Although the sources of the details are unclear, some of them seem to come from Baldwin’s earlier works. Her reinterpretation separates the prints from their original contexts and provokes new thoughts on the materiality of prints. This work is one of three that Baldwin contributed to the wood + paper + box portfolio. Woodcut printmaking is a relief process where the artist removes portions of a wooden block to leave behind raised surfaces that hold ink and create areas of black in the finished print. After the woodblock is covered in ink, the artist works manually or with a press to press a piece of paper against the block to form the impression of the woodcut. To create a color woodcut, the artist carves multiple blocks, one for each color, and presses them to the paper one at a time, often moving from light to dark to layer the colors. Tap the web icon to view some of Katie Baldwin’s other works.