Enrique Leal is visual artist Professor in Print Media at the Art Department in University of California, Santa Cruz, USA. whose research focuses progresively on the inclusive and interdisciplinary practices of print media, enhancing the correspondence among the techniquel, material and metaphorical knowledge of visual production.

ARTIST STATEMENT

During my residency at Proyecto ´ace in Buenos Aires I am developing a series of prints with waterless thermal litho plates that investigate the immaterial quality of white objects and lucent phenomena. In this case, the printed image call for inverting conventional figure ground tonal values (dark ink on white surface) by printing negative photographic luminescent images that enhace the material formation of the images that emerge as inked embodiments from an abyssal somber space.

The pure depth of total darkness, one that cancels out any sense of foreground or background, provides the dimensionless space of illusion for beamed light to manifest.

As part of the graphic inquiry, I will also explore the possibilities of printing on distinct surfaces and materials to augment the conceptual significance of the reproduced images. The results of the series of photopolymer gravures will allow for the design and production of an Artist Book with accompanying texts concerning the themes represented.