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3-run 3-color direct gravure with soft ground and drypoint
Calame’s recent prints at Graphicstudio introduce rubbings and the figure as a new juncture in her work. In this suite of three prints, Calame began by making rubbings with charcoal on tissue paper of the faces and bodies of her family, friends, and colleagues. The rubbings of arms, legs, hands and feet are expressive: their gestures indicate emotion, age, and gender.
Calame states, “When I make a charcoal and tissue paper rubbing of a person’s face or body, I get to know them in an entirely different way within a couple of minutes, the bones and creases of their face like geological formations discovered through the paper. Afterwards my perception of them is altered: I see the structure of their face, the way they hold their hands and how they embody their age, sex, and self differently.”
While in residence at Graphicstudio, Calame slowed the original rubbing event by making etchings of the rubbings using spit-bite, burnishing, sugar-lift, hard ground, and soft ground techniques. She combined frottage drawings of body parts with rubbings of carpentry tools or musical instruments to juxtapose bodily movement with mechanical movement. By overlaying these images in printed colors, Calame creates a narrative of desire, control, and vulnerability.
