Maryanna Williams
Vessels

July 28 - August 19, 2023

Reduction Linoleum Prints

Artist Statement

My imagery comes from being immersed in nature and art history, and an interest in creating a dialogue between simple forms and intricate patterns. In my prints I have explored diverse subjects – such as moths, jellyfish, Italian Renaissance portraits, antique robes, and antique vessels, and now trees – each subject chosen for its inherent beauty, delicate patterning, and vibrant hues. Close up and filling the picture plane, the images shift between realism and abstraction, at times dissolving into facets of color and marks vibrating across surfaces. 

For almost two decades, I have been making reduction linocuts. Using a single piece of linoleum I create a multi-colored image by sequentially carving and layering colors, one atop another. I print by hand onto rice papers with beautiful textures and fibers that are integrated into the works. This printmaking method is unforgiving, demanding that I balance chance with control to save the image. There is an energy that comes from these continual adjustments, often taking the piece far from the original plan. In this way, the image is always in a state of becoming until the final color is laid to paper.

My work is not about scientific illustration or realism, but about transforming subjects from nature and art into images that express my deep passion for the intense beauty I see in the world.

— Maryanna Williams

Biography

Maryanna Williams received a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Southeastern Massachusetts University (now UMass Dartmouth) in 1978. Since that time, she has lived and worked in Massachusetts, Italy, North Carolina and, now, Virginia. For the past twenty years she has worked primarily as a printmaker, specifically doing reduction linoleum printmaking. She has shown regularly, both in solo exhibitions and in group shows, across the United States and her work is in collections around the country and in Canada. 

Website: maryannawilliams.com

The Reduction Linocut Method

In reduction linoleum printmaking a multi-color print is created by using a single block of linoleum. After drawing an outline of the image onto the block, areas that will remain the color of the paper are carved away. Ink is then rolled onto the raised areas of the linoleum, paper is laid down on the inked block, and the back of the paper is rubbed to transfer the ink to the paper. The size of the edition is established at this point since once the next step of carving begins the previous step can no longer be printed. The block will be sequentially carved, inked, and printed – each new color atop all of the previous colors – until the print is completed. The overprinted colors are influenced by the underlying colors; therefore the artist must take into consideration the order of colors as she prints.