PORTRAITS

BACKGROUND, PROCESS, AND DISCOVERY

During high school was the beginning of taking photos of my art, family, and friends. These three subject areas have represented an ongoing interest which has defined most of my life. It completes me as a person

in ways I sometimes don't understand. 

I vividly remember how happy I felt in my late teens when I purchased a Rolleicord Twin Lens Reflex camera. It quickly became a proactive tool for taking B&W photos related to the vicissitudes of my everyday life. 

Besides taking pictures during the day, and late at nightI, I developed negatives in the bathroom when my parents were asleep. Converting negatives to photographic paper, and seeing the positive image slowly emerge from the whiteness of the paper was, and still is a wonder ready to reveal itself with in its photographic detail. 

The camera also became a socially acceptable identity for me in the presence  of others, softening my anxiety in social situations. The camera always hung above my waist that became a conversational topic when I had little or nothing to say.  
 

Fast forward to 1995, during my mono-print journey a new printmaking subject entered mind: family portraits and friends. It soon became a major commitment for exploring personal photos taken decades ago and recent ones taken with a digital camera. Reverting back  to earlier times  a few family photos were converted to digital files. Many were augmented for adding a creative dimension. Different levels of magnification revealed details that I could not have imagined. It brought into view unperceived details that created more clarity to a bygone time, and to that moment of truth that was missed in the photo- portrait.
 

Bringing family and friends into a creative world of art and portraiture to a public viewing was a daunting thought.  It would require large-scale bleed prints such as 40" h x 30" w to have a compelling effect and style.  The scale of the portraits, and the creative expressive component  I hoped would draw viewers into experiencing a different kind of portraiture, one of unsolicited facial expression and truth, and a new visual style for portraiture, heightening their curiosity and experience. 

Technically, producing a large-scale print is challenging from the very beginning. Transferring small paper-litho plates to BFK paper seamlessly next to one another, and the handling and inking. Over the years, this unique and seldom used method of printing has become a favorite medium of mine for expression. Fragile plates and unpredictable disasters are always ongoing concerns for producing high-quality prints. The paper-litho method has proved to have an inherent visual character that is radically different from traditional wood and metal. Mono-printing has a kind of image quality that is refreshing, interesting, and expressive. 

Celebrating my dear parents, family, and friends within the inviolable realm of art, and in a creative way is my way of honoring my dear parents. 

I also trust this body of work can be seen as an inspiration to young printmakers and artists as a vital, expressive medium, full of possibilities and creativity  beyond traditional methods of printmaking. 

John Avakian, Oct. 23, 2018 Revised Sept,26, 2022

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