A good metaphor for the way I make prints is the way I write – I am not a one-draft person. I find pleasure and take interest in the evolution of an idea or image believing that each layer and reworking adds both mystery and insight to the piece. Along those same lines, I also believe that multiple looks at the same subject can land a deeper understanding and that digital technology is changing the way we look at things.

The past two years have resulted in a series of works on paper that look at landscape and at ways in which digital tools are allowing us to see familiar things in a new way. While I am interested in the way computers have changed the way I look at things, none of the works here utilize digital image making. They are all made by hand.

For the past three years, I have been exploring solarplate intaglio prints and multi-media works on paper. The multiple solarplates serve as a matrix from which I make unique – edition prints. These plates, printed in various combinations, provide distinct opportunities for me to develop my imagery through viscosity inking, chine colle and multiple passes through the press allowing me to both record an image as it develops and to build layers, which I believe adds depth, richness and even topographical history to the pieces.

Ann Conrad, 2006