George Strider

Deflection III
15" x 22"
Collograph

Deflection I
15" x 20"
Collograph

Deflection II
15" x 21"
Collograph

Morpheme Genesis (Orange)
11" x 17"
Reductive Woodcut

Morpheme III
8.5" x 11"
Reductive Woodcut

Morpheme V
8.5" x 11"
Reductive Woodcut

Morpheme VI
8.5" x 11"
Reductive Woodcut

Morpheme VII
8.5" x 11"
Reductive Woodcut

Morpheme IIX
8.5" x 11"
Reductive Woodcut

The morphemic.

Rarely do I begin with a thought of what image I want to create, or what meaning I want to convey. The first mark, although essential, begins a mystery that unfolds into what I am obsessing on. Subsequent marks are in response to the first mark, and transform the space into an abstraction closer to a truth that I am trying to realize.

My process begins as a simple drawing in black in white with insinuating curvatures of space and form. These drawings are developed and refined until a meaning becomes clearer but they still retain their ambiguous nature. My images are an attempt to capture a universal idea that exists outside the limitations of verbal language. My hope is that I can express an idea that intuitively recognizable, a universal message contained within these forms. 

My current work is made using the technique of reductive woodcut. The forms of the drawing are first replicated onto the block in reverse in pencil. The block is then printed with the first color. Then a decision is made between figure and ground and the carving begins. The second color is printed on the original block. Subsequently, there is more carving and more printing until a majority of the original wood block is carved away and there is nothing left to be printed. The block is slowly destroyed in the process of trying to define the print.