“The Moon” is Reservoir Press’ contribution to a recent letterpress print exchange. In a print exchange each contributing printmaker submits an edition of prints equal in size to the number of participants. The collection would be collated, and then each participant would receive in exchange for their contribution a complete collection of prints from all the participants.
Since this print was to be shared with other letterpress printers, the challenge was to make a print that would be both beautiful and technically sophisticated. Printing large areas of deep black is not something that letterpress does particularly well, but with the moon print I really wanted to emulate the richness of blacks found in outer space. This seven color print was my attempt to solve this problem with careful layering of colors. The end result, I think, was a field of dark color around the moon that upon close examination was made up of both cool and warm hues.
But more than anything else, “The Moon” represents for me a departure from standard practice in letterpress. This is what I want out of my work as a printer. To be pushing boundaries; to be experimental; to beg the press to function beyond its design; to keep the work fresh and challenging. In the end, I hope that a letterpress printer can look at this print and say, “I can’t believe that was made with a letterpress.”
You can find some of the other prints in this exchange here.
