"Wave Nineteen Seventy" was printed as a color version, after a positive / negative reversal, of "Shock Wave" (Conway 199). It was done in an edition of 20 plus the following proofs: 7 trial proofs; a bon a tirer; 4 artist's proofs and 2 presentation proofs.
This image was the second in a long series of prints exploring the visual imagery of 'waves'. It was printed from a zinc plate on which Wayne applied a tushe wash with a sprinkling of salt particles to create the wave forms.
Wayne was the force behind the founding of Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles in 1960 under the auspices of the Ford Foundation. In 1970 Tamarind Institute moved to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and co-founders Clinton Adams and Garo Antreasian took over much of the directorial duties, freeing Wayne to return to her printmaking.
June Wayne commented about this period of her work on page 200 of Robert Conway's raisonne 'June Wayne - The Art of Everything':
"At this time I was becoming increasingly free of Tamarind and started having my own personal printer and workshop in the space that Tamarind no longer occupied. Now I had my studio back for myself and no longer had to look for an opening here or there in the Tamarind workshop schedule."