ARTIST STATEMENT

For 15 years I’ve created soft ground etchings and prints. I‘m still awed and inspired by nature‘s variety, detailed order, and beauty. But my creative flow no longer carries me to play by printing editions of bountiful variations. I’m now inspired to return to the origin and feature the signature of nature embedded in the original metal matrixes that I and the leaves and the etching press created. I’m revisiting and reimagining the cancelled etching plates themselves. Their illumination, nuanced lines, intricate patterns, and tonal varieties excite me. I am permanently filling with ink’s vitality the fingerprints of the leaves and seeds that are deeply etched, like permanent “wrinkles”. Through a slow and thorough polishing process that refines and hones, I’m buffing off the clouding film of ink that once enhanced the plate’s surface. Layer by layer its disappearance reveals the clarity and luminosity inherent in the source matrix. In these pieces, I’m telling the everlasting stories of this time in our personal history. By releasing the plates to you, I’m making room for what I will breathe in next. 

PERSPECTIVE:

In Chinese Five Element Theory, the element Metal represents precision, simplicity, and clarity — a metal blade cutting through to the bone.

Metal is related to the Autumn season, when we turn inward following the expansiveness of fiery Summer’s bounty. In our bodies, the Metal element is related to the lungs, skin, and large intestines, to the emotions of sadness and grief, and to letting go. Cleaning out our negative feelings creates more space inside us for the positive emotions of courage, integrity, and joy. In the life cycle, our Autumn years stimulate a return to our essence and what is most important in our lives. The lungs bring in the inspiration of fresh breath, the pure and new, from the heavens. 

I have been studying, practicing, and teaching qigong, the self-healing branch of Chinese medicine, for over 20 years. Its source is the flow and laws of nature. My subject matter, wholeness of seeing, and choice of art materials and processes are inseparable from this life philosophy.  

Rona Cordish Satten, MCAT, ATR, MQT, October 2021