2008/ Group exhibitions/ Artifact Studio / Abstracted

"Abstracted"
Artifact Studio
October 4 - November 12, 2008 - San Diego - Group Show

This series of monotypes was created in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2000 and has never been exhibited before. Lauren Carrera, the director of Artifact Studio in San Diego, saw them on my website and was interested to include a series of them in the show "Abstracted".

I went to New Mexico to visit archeological sites, to see the Native American petroglyphs and to enjoy the landscapes. In France, I worked several summers with a team of archeologists in La Vallee des Merveilles, where petroglyphs are abundant. Natural landscapes are a very important part of my life. They influence much of my work. I was born in Provence in the south of France and travelled to Italy, Spain, Greece, spending time to absorb the richness of the landscapes in these regions. Several years of my life were spent in Africa, during which time I had the very rare pleasure to visit the Saharan desert in Mauritania. My most recent travels have taken me to the southwestern United States, which is an important source of my inspiration.

I created the series with a set of plastic plates of identical size. The process allows me to separate the colors and obtain layered images. First I paint an image on each plate. Then I put one plate after another under a press, on the same piece of paper. Because the plates are not engraved, it is possible to reuse them endlessly to create new images.

Michele Guieu, San Diego, October 2008

Artifact Studio

2234 30th Street

South Park, California

Contact: Lauren Carrera 619-972-3727

Rio Grande
monotype on paper
Image size : 26"x17", [66x43cm]