Man

Lee R. Chesney

Lee Chesney was in the first etching class Mauricio Lasansky taught at Iowa and this composition was done there. There is paper tape on the edges of this sheet, something that Chesney commented on, telling me that that was how Lasansky insisted students dry the impressions, by stretching the paper using paper tape. Chesney said the students couldn't wait to get on their own and dry the impressions using blotters.

Chesney also commented: "Intaglio printmaking is a slow complicated process utilizing an intractable material (metal) and only, indirectly providing the resulting print. Why it should have captivated my imagination from the first is only comprehensible when one considers the exhilarating moment when the print is removed from the plate--a miracle is born! The glistening black, upraised lines, the velvety dark and mysterious areas are alive, beautiful and suggestive. Every print from every plate recreates this magical moment."

"Man" illustrates the breadth of experimental possibilities with metal-plate printmaking that Lasansky began teaching in Iowa, based partially on his experiences at Atelier 17 in New York. Combining not only strong color and line but multiple textural fields throughout the image, Chesney's exploration of the printmaking medium is well illustrated in this one image. Chesney would begin to work almost exclusively in intaglio, but here can be seen the effects of acid biting, as well.

For more information on the artist, please see our biography, above.