Monoprint Series 1 (Beginning)

Black-and-white Suminagashi works focused on form and material behavior. Traditional methods are combined with approaches borrowed from Western paper marbling, pushing the technique through controlled disruption to record how form persists rather than resolving into decorative pattern. Each print captures a moment within a fluid system as structure begins to break down.

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Black and white suminagashi monoprint with concentric ink rings on washi paper

Suminagashi monoprint with disrupted circular forms in black ink

Black and white suminagashi monoprint with flowing organic patterns

Suminagashi monoprint with bold black ink forms breaking apart

Black and white suminagashi monoprint with layered fluid structures

Suminagashi monoprint with fine concentric lines dissolving at edges

Black and white suminagashi monoprint with dense overlapping rings

Suminagashi monoprint with delicate ink patterns on handmade washi paper

I started this work because I needed a break from computing and digital tools and wanted to rebuild a fully analog, hands-on art practice. What I missed from creative coding and generative art was the ability to build an environment and explore it, to lower the stakes of any single outcome and focus on process and iteration. The simplicity of Suminagashi (ink, water, paper, and attention) was immediate and compelling.

The technique combines traditional methods (floating ink on water, blowing, stylus work, paper placement) with approaches borrowed from Western paper marbling, including linseed oil and throwing stones. This series became the first body of work I pursued with sustained focus and committed to as a coherent project.

Chris De Giere
Ink on washi paper
Monoprint (suminagashi-based paper marbling)
6×8 inches (15.24 × 20.32 cm)
2025

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