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strange but beautiful prints
Sleeping nymph
Lino print on paper, 12x12 inches (300x300mm approx.)
Intus aquae dulces, vivoque sedilia saxo, Nympharum domus.
(Within, fresh water and seats in the living rock, the home of the nymphs.)
- Virgil, Aeneid book 1
Stourhead nymph linocut
The inspiration for this lino print came from a visit to Stourhead in Wiltshire, where there is a grand house surrounded by landscaped gardens by Capability Brown. Somewhere in the gardens there is a grotto, inside which one finds a statue of a sleeping nymph by a pool of water.
First I made an oil painting of the nymph naked, deliberately simplifying the shapes. I decided she should be unclothed, because a nymph is a nature spirit. She is a naiad.
I like lino because it encourages finding the exact, simple line.
Artist and engraver William Blake objected to the indefinite, and even in a painting where part of the fun is in softness, and the lost and found contour, the artist and the lover of art must both know where the line is. Even when the body is under clothes, the disposition of the limbs must be revealed rather than concealed.
The lino print takes the artist back to the primitive essence of the image, where line and contour is everything. Part of my inspiration for these simple forms is the figures on Greek vases from the pre-Hellenistic time.
Technical details
This lino print was made from three parts: a black square, then an earth red area printed on top, and finally the off-white nymph and cave.
It is a one-off, although I still have the lino plates, and could print more, perhaps in other colours.
Variations on the nymph theme
Click on a thumbnail image, or on one of the links below:
All images are copyright Martin Dace 2004.