Monoprint Series 4 (Drift)

This series borrows more heavily from Western paper marbling, introducing carrageenan size to thicken and stabilize the bath, and an alum wash to mordant the paper before printing. The thickened surface allows the inks to be shaped, massaged, and moved with more deliberate control. Stylus work and alcohol are used to disrupt and direct the color on the surface. As in Series 3, sheets of handmade paper are torn in half and printed in sequence, forming near-diptychs from a single bath.

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Vibrant color monoprint with oceanic flow patterns on washi paper, diptych left Vibrant color monoprint with oceanic flow patterns on washi paper, diptych right Color paper marbling monoprint with pooling pigments and coastal forms, diptych left Color paper marbling monoprint with pooling pigments and coastal forms, diptych right Paper marbling monoprint with stylus-directed color currents on carrageenan size, diptych left Paper marbling monoprint with stylus-directed color currents on carrageenan size, diptych right Monoprint with alcohol-disrupted ink and topological color pools, diptych left Monoprint with alcohol-disrupted ink and topological color pools, diptych right Color monoprint with flowing ink layers and warm oceanic tones on washi, diptych left Color monoprint with flowing ink layers and warm oceanic tones on washi, diptych right

The earlier series moved fast. Ink on water, pull it before it drifts. With a more stable base, I could slow down and actually work with the color. Push it around, come back to it, react to what happens and work with it rather than against it. The focus here is really color and flow, how pigments move around each other, pool, and settle. As I worked, the results started feeling oceanic and topological. Currents, pools, coastlines forming on their own. I leaned into that. The conversation between the two halves of each diptych became about color relationships rather than structure.

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

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