Patricia Prosek
Desert Sun, Monoprint, 22x28,2019
Crane's Stance IV, Monoprint, 14x28, 2019
His Empty Shoes, AIDS Memorium, etching, 14x18,2006.
Most of my art has a Far Eastern flavor as I grew up surrounded by my Mother’s Chinese art collection and subsequently studied ancient Chinese art in school. I was always drawn to the elegant lines of the crane. I have a love of all winged creatures and this greatly influences my work. I am In awe of the grace of their stance, the freedom of their flight. It is something to which I always return as a subject.
Much of my present print images are created as a variation of the monotype; namely, a monoprint. That is a print that is created mainly or partially as a monotype (a one-of-a-kind print) with a component that can be used again. In my case, these are objects that are original works I have created which I place in various backgrounds and foregrounds, colors and effects.
I also love the etching as a printmaking process as it fits into my particular vision of art. Rendering objects in a linear dimension rather than a mass is how I seem to think. Not that you can escape light and tone, I feel the lines of the etching are the essence of this medium. something to which I am drawn. Initially working with nitric acid and fearing its effects, I was glad to find less caustic procedures and materials. Now I use mainly solar plates, and the sun develops them.
I also use collages to render work with texture by using various materials with differing patterns. I usually adhere the material to mat board, cardboard or high-impact plastic and cover with varnish. I also have used this process to emboss on Arches ivory paper, portraying people and articles such as shells and fish.
Most printmakers would say that it is the surprise of the print that is the best part of printmaking. I, on the other hand, would appreciate more predictability and less surprise (unless I really like it). Printmaking leads to a lot of work for me until I lift the press covers and get what I want. I must work on that.
Pat Prosek was born in Philadelphia and attended the University of the Arts. Eventually completing her education in California, she continued her artistic pursuits at several printmaking studios in the Bay Area, including the University of California’s print studio in Berkeley. She subsequently joined the Lafayette Printmaking Studio where she began working with alternative methods and non-toxic materials, such as solar plates, plastics, and water soluble inks.
Pat’s art consists mainly of monoprints and etchings Much of her work depicts cranes and exhibits a definite Asian influence derived from her study of ancient Chinese art.
Her work is included in many private and public collections, including the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C., the Fine Art Museum of San Francisco in the Achenbach Graphic Arts Foundation, the White House Millenium Council of Washington, D. C., the Portland Museum, Portland, Oregon, the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts and in the permanent collection of the Florean Museum, Baia Mare, Romania.
Pat was a founding member of the Lafayette Gallery for fifteen years. Since its demise, she joined the Moraga Art Gallery in Moraga, California. She also displays her work at the Valley Art Gallery in Walnut Creek, California.
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