March 2018: Nanette Wallace

Nanette Wallace work is gestural and energetic, consisting primarily of monotypes with a focus on the figure. She often incorporates a limited color pallet on her monotypes consisting of black or sepia ink. This allows her to find purity in the imagery without relying on color to convey mood and emotion. A large component for the inspiration in her work is derived from black and white photographs from the early 1900s through the 1960s. She uses these photos as a starting point, often combining multiple images to create one figure and ghosts of previous figures to inspire the next. While her work has a lyrical quality to it, she is most interested in the viewer finding their own story in her work. Nanette’s Monotype prints are created by inking the entire surface of a smooth plexiglas plate with etching ink applied via a roller. Then using rags and q-tips, ink is removed from the plate to create a subtractive image, e.g. creating lights from a field of opaque color. The image was then transferred onto a sheet of paper by pressing the two together using a printing press. Monotype printing produces a unique singular print; most of the ink is removed during the initial pressing. Although a subsequent reprinting is sometimes possible, it differs greatly from the first print. These secondary prints from the original plate are called “ghost prints”.