Invocation

Michael Ponce de Leon

By the 1980s the style of Michael Ponce de Leon’s work had developed into a kind of modern iconography, with imagery that cast off excess in favor of strong colors and dynamic shapes laid out on the sheet like emblems from an ancient city. His up-to-then four decades of immersion in the experimental printmaking world allowed him to explore unusual techniques with professional ease, and in “Invocation” we see the cumulative evidence of his artistic experience.

Layers of dimensionality - formed by collagraphy - are embedded, fossil-like, against a cacophony of form and color. The composition suggests a planet or a celestial being floating in space, surrounded by pinpricks of starry light. The central theme, swooped shapes appearing like two hands in prayer pointing toward a radiating point of light, offers a sense of hope in the midst of universal chaos.