Copyright 2022 Sylvie Covey
Prints
Printmaking was my major in college in Paris. The first technique I learned was gravure (etching). It required a thoughtful and almost ceremonial succession of actions to produce a print. I was hooked and never let it go, until I knew all about printmaking. I am still learning.
The “Etchings and Aquatints” Portfolios
My participation with the Women’s Liberation Movement in France in 1975, and my own questioning on the subject of maternity inspired these very first etchings made in Paris.
Mythology, some spiritual elements, cosmic attraction, earthly subjects of nature, all of these themes inspired me during those years. The processes of etching and aquatint, and then composing 3-dimensional constructions, were an integral part of creating the imagery.
I worked with large brass, zinc and copper plates for a number of years; the plates, each 24” x 36”, would take weeks to finish drawing and etching. I worked on them like doing a meditation. Nature and landscapes was my subject of choice. I started experimenting with photo etching.
Going back to school for my Master’s opened my horizons to new subjects and techniques. I started concentrating on photo techniques, while creating and photographing performances by artist’s friends. I decided to focus on the concept of the grid and the multiple.
Spending some time upstate New York with my husband Shan, I photographed him naked in our woods. Then I drew and etched plates of him among the trees, and also made photogravures with subtle tint colors. The photogravure process is very refined and an interesting contrast with the drawing of an etched aquatint.