| Artist Detail |
Presentation
Etching
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Andrew Totman
Interview with Andrew Totman
Learn To Be Still
Printmaking is often referred to as intaglio (in-TAHL-ee-oh), an Italian word meaning “to carve.” It is a process used for producing multiple pieces of artwork; painting, on the other hand, is a process for producing a single piece of artwork. Artists who choose the medium of printmaking must be able to visualize the end result as they etch or cut into the printing surface, which is most commonly metal, wood or linoleum.
Andrew Totman created his print, Learn To Be Still, using the printmaking process of etching, which is part of the intaglio family (along with engraving, drypoint, mezzotint, and aquatint). Etching was first used in the early 16th century when it was found that acid could be used to dissolve exposed parts of a metal printing plate. An artist starts the process by coating the surface of a metal plate (usually copper) with a waxy material called a “ground,” which prevents the acid from etching the metal. Then the artist uses a sharp tool to draw an image in the ground. When the plate is put into an acid bath, the acid etches the metal where the drawing has removed the ground. After the plate is taken out of the acid, the ground is removed with a solvent such as turpentine, and the entire plate is inked. The surface is wiped clean with a piece of stiff fabric known as tarlatan or newsprint paper, leaving ink only in the etched grooves of the plate. A damp piece of paper is placed over the plate and it is run through the press to make a single-colored print. Multicolored prints are produced with multiple plates.
Totman says that when beginning a project, “I start with an idea that is just for me, with a memory or event in mind, and I make a small drawing.” Learn To Be Still is a prime example of his personal style; a fascinating metaphorical work that depicts an ethereal figure paused in mid-flight. This half-human, half-spirit being wears a flowing cape that resembles a pair of wings. A golden, feather-like shape caresses the underside of the cape, and two gracefully-curved dark blue shapes complement the lower part of the body that looks somewhat like a fish’s tail. He only drew one hand and one foot to suggest the humanness of the form, while the abstracted parts of the body represent the spiritual element. A pair of arms seems to caress the figure, yet they temporarily halt its progress—perhaps Totman is alluding to a parent and child relationship. He chose red hues for the arms, providing a wonderful contrast of warm color against the cool background. His use of red completes the print’s trio of primary colors.
Totman was born in 1961 in Sebastopol, California, and reared in Napa, California. Interested in art from an early age, he enrolled at the University of San Diego as a printmaking major, receiving his BA in 1983. Totman earned his MFA in 1986 from Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas, with a major in printmaking and a minor in drawing/painting. He also worked as a printmaking instructor at Wichita State during his tenure at the university. Totman then went abroad to participate in the Consultant Artists-in-Residence program at the Centre d'Art Contemporain Château Beychevelle in Bordeaux, France. From there his career took him back to the United States; first working as an assistant professor of art at the University of Alaska in Anchorage, and then as an assistant professor of art in the Artsreach program at the University of California, Los Angeles.
In 1997, Totman and his family moved to Sydney, Australia, where he has continued his highly successful art career. He is the manager of the Mary Street Studios in St. Peters, Australia, and a printmaking lecturer at the National Art School in East Sydney, Australia.
Totman has shown his work in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the world, and his prints, paintings, and drawings are in museums, corporate collections, and galleries around the globe. A partial list of galleries includes Print Arts Northwest in Portland, Oregon; Groundfloor Gallery in Sydney, Australia; Port Jackson Press in Melbourne, Australia; Atelier Skara in Gressvik, Norway; and the Centro Venezolano Americano del Zulia gallery in Maracaibo, Venezuela.
In 2003, Totman’s work was on exhibit at the Stanford Art Spaces gallery in the Center for Integrated Systems on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, California. The exhibit showcased his recurring motifs of figures (with an emphasis on the hand) and houses, reflecting the things that he holds most dear: his family and home life. Totman’s remarkable art style is described in a brief biography found on the Center for Integrated Systems’ Web site: “His work holds the particularly elusive quality that identifies a work of art as timeless in scope and intent. Abstracted figures moving in fields of vibrant colors undoubtedly tie Andrew’s style to the New Figurative movement, and his images tell of his journey through German Expressionism and French Symbolism tinged by an undeniable West Coast Pop Art flair. The figures symbolize both the artist’s alter ego and the universal spirit shared by all, independent of race, gender, and creed. The scenes depicted lead the audience into a psychological place as palpable yet fleeting as a glimpse through a window.”
Sheila Macho
JMCP Cover Editor
COVER CREDIT ________
Andrew Totman, Learn To Be Still, etching. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Copyright© 1999.
SOURCES ________
Interview with the artist.
http://cis.stanford.edu/~marigros/show34.html#artist3
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