#9 of Top 10: "Lotus"

“Lotus”, 2000
Serigraph
12 7/8” x 8 3/4”
Edition of 20

Lotus is another image that kicked around for a long time before it found the proper medium to present it. I love the metaphor of the lotus- a plant that lives in three worlds (mud/water/air) and represents the four elements (earth, water, air and fire (sun)). I’m interested in the flower as a metaphor for the awakening of consciousness. I had attempted a painting of the same image back in 1992 but didn’t feel that it conveyed the feeling I was going for. I was always hoping to give it another go at some point.

In the winter of 1999 I was introduced to Malaquias Montoya (http://www.malaquiasmontoya.com). Malaquias is an artist of great conviction, as well as, a font of information on screen printing (or serigraphy) and the Chicano art movement. The University of Notre Dame had invited Malaquias as a visiting professor to teach screen printing for a semester. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to learn from a master so I arranged my work schedule to attend his morning class.

Serigraphy turned out to be the missing link I had searched for between painting and color printmaking. Malaquias’ instruction helped me bridge the gap between the two mediums by showing me that you could be as tight or as loose as you wanted to be when making images with the screen. I loved the immediacy that the water borne inks allowed when layering colors.

When it came time to work on some images I pulled out some old sketches as reference for something new. I thought I would revisit the lotus idea and try one last time to get it right.

I used one screen and a stop out method to paint out the various layers of color. Using this method I first chose what was going to remain white on the page and blocked that out with some screen filler and ran a light yellow tint. Next, I chose what areas of the yellow were going to remain blocked them out and printed the next color. This process continued – light to dark and always on the same screen. I would block out more and more with a brush to give it a loose painting feel and to limit where the next color would lay. I worked on this most of the day and into the evening. I remember Malaquias coming in the next morning and asking how many colors I had pulled. I told him I had lost count after 18 and he laughed in amazement (at my tenaciousness, I think). I couldn’t help myself. Every time I put down another tone I would see where I could push the area some more. I finally had to stop when the stop-out I had used started to break down. The only other screen I used was for a tonal overlay on the figure to give him a little more definition.

Malaquias Montoya was, and continues to be, an inspiration to me - not only as an artist but as a person. He’s constantly working and is a prolific artist. During the class he could always be found in the lab working on his own prints but willing to help someone out with technical questions whenever possible. It was an enlightening experience to see this man work and encourage the students in the class. Our friendship has continued since that class and I always look forward to see what new work he is doing.

Some of the prints that I created during the semester I attended his class were: Lotus, Dowser Drowse, Corazon, Bendicion and Tamaleros.