"Tangled" - Collage Drawing by AJ Springer

Drawing: Paper, Wax, Resin, Etching, Aquatint on Paper, Other.

Pulling from psychology, I am attempting to create an experience akin to a Rorschach inkblot test. The viewer is pushed into a reflective dialogue that forces self-awareness, a sort of Jungian confrontation with their "shadow." The interaction between the figures serves as a symbol for the struggle we all experience with not only others but within ourselves.

To transfer this idea to a physical form, I begin multiple drawings on Mylar with charcoal and ink. Then, using a light sensitive process of printmaking, I exposed the plates directly from the drawings. Once the solar plates are made, I use “à la poupée” inking technique to print them onto rice paper. The final process involves layering various sections of these prints into a new single piece. By utilizing the transparent qualities of rice paper with the contrast of encaustic, the collaged layers connect and contrast textures while also forming a self-starting narrative.