20/20 Vision

The Art of Contemporary University Printmaking

John Whitesell

My objective is to use familiar material in conjunction with color, shape, and line to create images on paper that are not common and become visually magic. Recently I have been using plant material such as leaves, shrubs, and fungi for their form and color. These materials serve as the foundation of the images I construct. There is no deliberate attempt to reference symbol or metaphor and an effort to avoid easily recognizable objects that interfere with the harmony of the composition. I believe the success of a printed image can be attributed to the viewer’s natural intuitive feelings and emotions and may not be easily reached verbally. An analogy could be musical compositions constructed of sound without lyrics.