A World of Manifestations - Calaya Amparo

A World of Manifestations celebrates the many variations of putting ink on paper. Abstraction is open-ended, and so I establish parameters for a piece or series. I narrow down on the materials, color scheme, dimensions, type of mark making, etc, and then I can focus on improvising within those parameters. For the work I did in a series, I play with the subtle differences in each piece and let improvisation take over. I don’t plan exactly what the piece will look like ahead of time. I like the element of chance and exploration inherent in printmaking.

In October, I spent a month in Paonia, Colorado at Elsewhere Studios making the larger colorful ink on paper pieces. I used a brayer (ink roller) to apply the ink on paper and sometimes layered the "paintings" with chalk pastel. While at In Cahoots Residency in Petaluma, California, I made the mostly black ink on white paper monotype series. There, I inked up a plexiglass plate with black litho ink, then removed the ink with various tools (rags, q-tips, etc) and alcohol before running the plate through the Takach printing press to transfer the ink onto white paper. 

I find inspiration from the motion of gravity, falling water, the texture of rock faces and wide trees, horizon lines, motion of trees, the energy between two figures… I welcome viewers to see and feel whatever comes up when spending time with the work.