Double Iris

 

Gordon Louis Mortensen

  1938 - PRESENT (biography)

2002  

color reduction woodcut, printed in 39 colors with 38 press runs. 

26 x 19" image 

pencil, lower right 

42 of 100  

titled, dated, editioned and copyrighted in pencil 

 

white wove Arches 88 

published 

artist 

GoMo108 

SOLD

An unusual composition for the artist known for his sweeping landscapes, Gordon Louis Mortensen focuses his lens on the intricacies of a single flower within the boundaries of his signature, large-scale format. Measuring 26 inches by 19 inches, the viewer is invited to appreciate what can often be overlooked in a flower, emphasizing the illumination of the upright “standards” of the papery bloom as warm sunlight filters through. Mortensen’s eye for detail is as powerful in magnification as it is in wide lens.

Gordon Mortensen commented on the process he uses: "Only one woodblock is used. On it an image is drawn in India ink. Before the first color is printed, any areas that are to remain unprinted (white or the color of the paper) are cut away from the surface of the block. Then an oil base ink is used to print the first color on all of the sheets of paper that are to be used for the edition and proofs.

After the first printing the block is again cut, removing any surface of the block that is to remain the first color in the finished print. After each subsequent color is printed, the block is cut, the process continues until the print is finished and most of the surface of the block is cut away."

Mortensen used thirty-nine colors and thirty-eight press runs to produce his large, 26 x 19 inch, floral image.