The Subjective Hand(2006-2007):

These paintings are based on pencil sketches in which I copied engraved illustrations from 19^th century medical texts. A very close look at these images will reveal the underlying graphite drawings that inspired the finished works. The sketches are on my sketchbook page which can be seen by clicking here.

 The Victorian-era medical imagery intrigues me on many levels, partly due to my personal attitudes toward the illness and human body, but also because of my fascination with the role of the engraver. A medical illustrator’s responsibility has always been to provide renderings that are as objective as possible. Yet when the human hand and mind are involved, total objectivity is virtually impossible. Without the mechanical imaging devices available today, these hand-engraved medical illustrations display a great deal of subjective content.

 I found that I could hand-copy and combine these images to suggest an interrelation of figures and forms that are deeply evocative and open to interpretation on many levels. The original drawings were mostly unplanned, resulting from a spontaneous process of choosing and copying forms until a sketchbook page was entirely filled. The relationships between the forms are derived from chance and my own subconscious whims, rather than a conscious agenda or desire for specific meaning.

 I scanned both the sketches and the engravings, and digitally combined them into compositions that, while more tightly arranged than the sketches, retained the same essential subjective relationships as the original drawings. I then generated ink-jet prints of the designs, resulting in images that have a tightly rendered graphic quality. The sketchbook images can still be seen as faint background layers beneath the bold graphic forms.

 I felt it was important to re-introduce a hand-made aesthetic to these clearly graphic forms. The final steps of my process involve the use of two types of paint. I coated the digital prints with thick, translucent layers of encaustic wax, the surface of which I carved to produce a tactile quality. The encaustic protects the fragile ink-jet print from the final layers of oil paint, which in turn enhances the carved texture and partially obscures the sharp digital image.

 The process of applying encaustic wax, carving into it, then applying, removing, and reapplying oil paint mimics some of the techniques used in intaglio and relief printing processes. This, in effect allows me to recall the original printing techniques in which the 19^th century illustrations were created. By starting with a hand-drawn image, proceeding through digital/mechanical techniques, then returning to the traditions of carving and painting, I bring the mechanical image full-circle, returning it to the subjective hand.

These paintings are based on pencil sketches in which I copied engraved illustrations from 19^th century medical texts. A very close look at these images will reveal the underlying graphite drawings that inspired the finished works. 

 The Victorian-era medical imagery intrigues me on many levels, partly due to my personal attitudes toward the illness and human body, but also because of my fascination with the role of the engraver. A medical illustrator’s responsibility has always been to provide renderings that are as objective as possible. Yet when the human hand and mind are involved, total objectivity is virtually impossible. Without the mechanical imaging devices available today, these hand-engraved medical illustrations display a great deal of subjective content.

 I found that I could hand-copy and combine these images to suggest an interrelation of figures and forms that are deeply evocative and open to interpretation on many levels. The original drawings were mostly unplanned, resulting from a spontaneous process of choosing and copying forms until a sketchbook page was entirely filled. The relationships between the forms are derived from chance and my own subconscious whims, rather than a conscious agenda or desire for specific meaning.

 I scanned both the sketches and the engravings, and digitally combined them into compositions that, while more tightly arranged than the sketches, retained the same essential subjective relationships as the original drawings. I then generated ink-jet prints of the designs, resulting in images that have a tightly rendered graphic quality. The sketchbook images can still be seen as faint background layers beneath the bold graphic forms.

 I felt it was important to re-introduce a hand-made aesthetic to these clearly graphic forms. The final steps of my process involve the use of two types of paint. I coated the digital prints with thick, translucent layers of encaustic wax, the surface of which I carved to produce a tactile quality. The encaustic protects the fragile ink-jet print from the final layers of oil paint, which in turn enhances the carved texture and partially obscures the sharp digital image.

 The process of applying encaustic wax, carving into it, then applying, removing, and reapplying oil paint mimics some of the techniques used in intaglio and relief printing processes. This, in effect allows me to recall the original printing techniques in which the 19^th century illustrations were created. By starting with a hand-drawn image, proceeding through digital/mechanical techniques, then returning to the traditions of carving and painting, I bring the mechanical image full-circle, returning it to the subjective hand.