Five Prints
by Kim Bricker
Imagined Landscape 18. 2022. 5 x 7". Monoprint on paper.
Appreciation of the natural world seems to be part of human nature. We seek out the long views from mountaintops, the reflection and movement of water, the unexpected hues in canyons and meadows. It is something that unites us globally and also through time.
The focus of my work is on creating a contemporary portrayal of the landscape, using a layered monoprint printmaking technique to explore the color, light, and form that characterize specific places and places in time. I work from memories, photographs, historical representations, and my own imagination. I believe landscapes tell complex stories to any who are patient enough to listen.
Frozen Lake Trio 02. 2022. 9 x 7". Monoprint on paper.
Red Rocks Trio 02. 2022. 9 x 7". Monoprint on paper.
I am drawn to landscapes that are seemingly unpopulated and unaffected by human intervention. On one hand, my desire is to show the beauty and diversity of nature and to celebrate it as a gift to humanity. On the other hand, the viewpoint of my work is decidedly human and reminiscent of a fuzzy memory or an old photograph. Somebody was here. In fact someone has been here for millenia, migrating through, settling, leaving their mark, enjoying the bounty of the land, and probably also reveling in the beauty of the place and the moment.
My layered process speaks to this passage of time. Edges and texture hint at the stratum underneath. Fragments of previously used colors migrate across the print, connecting the layers but also emphasizing a progression through the color palette. The plate edge is visible across the print, suggesting the shutter action of a camera, photo montage, or impressions taken through time or space. There is a history that reveals itself in the details of the work, just as there would be in reading the natural environment.
Front Range Trio 01. 2022. 9 x 7". Monoprint on paper.
Imagined Landscape 26. 2022. 5 x 7". Monoprint on paper.
Kim Bricker is a contemporary printmaking artist currently living in Jersey City, NJ. She received a BA in Fine Arts with a concentration in 2D Media from Carnegie Mellon University and an MA in Museum Studies from George Washington University. She has worked in furniture design, graphic design, dabbled in jewelry design intermittently, and has been drawing here and there over the years. After several trips to the Southwest, Colorado, the Nevada desert, Wyoming, and Montana she returned to drawing, painting, and printmaking with a renewed interest in landscapes and representing the story of a place in a contemporary way. She currently creates at a studio she shares with her husband at 150 Bay Street in downtown Jersey City.
