woodcut
SENSATION
Did you know that …
… XYLON
has re-invented woodblock printmaking?
Where does the term Xylon come from?
This term significantly relates to ksulon, a Greek word meaning wood. In fact, Xylon is a group of professional woodblock printmakers. Xylography is a term (now little used) for any kind of printing from a wooden block, anything encompassing both woodcut and wood engraving.
First seen in China around the 1st century, xylography is the oldest woodcut technique known.
What do YOU think
… woodcut is?
An ancient alphabet ?
Mysterious hieroglyphics ?
A strange spy code ?
I'm only kidding!
Take a look at this paragraph
In the beginning, woodcut and wood engraving were the main activities of Xylon members and, for that matter, they still are. Noted French engraver, José San Martin, defines this activity, also called black line printing, as the art of engraving wood, while preserving the design to be printed. The block of wood, being used for the purpose of carving out white spaces so the surfaces of the drawing (conceived in black) to be inked remain raised, is called plankgrain block and has been obtained by cutting the tree lengthwise, in the direction of the grain. The printmaker carves the design alongside the grain. This technique is specifically known as woodcutting. Cherry, pear and lime trees, amongst others, as well as plywood and blockboard nowadays, may be used for this purpose. However, the 19th century introduced a new technique: wood engraving, the block of wood being sawed up transversely to the tree trunk and called endgrain block. Unlike the plankgrain block, this support has very great resistance and can be carved unconstrainedly on all sides, thus assuring neatness of the design to be printed, no matter the number of prints being pulled. This since proved to be a great leap forward in modernizing the engraving technology. Boxwood is particularly appropriate for wood engraving. The tools, used to engrave this kind of matrix are similar to those used for metal (burin, echoppe, multiple line graver, etc.). (Contemporary Printmaking Biennial Event, TRACE catalog, 1986)
Xylon has re-invented woodblock printmaking
By using modern materials …
Nowadays, Xylon artist-printmakers especially practice woodblock printing, as previously mentioned. However, since they're also using various modern by-products, wood substitutes (linoleum, gerflex, plaster, synthetic materials, etc.) introduced on the market in the 1940s and which can easily be engraved independently or combined with wood, the term woodcut has shifted from its restricted application to wood to the broadened frontiers of the discipline, including all forms of relief printing. By this very fact, the technique has been totally renewed in the last decades.
… new tools and techniques
José San Martin further sheds light on this subject. Working with these new materials resembles in some aspects working with wood (use of gouges, knives), though one has to take into account the particular characteristics of every material and even make the most of each. The fact that contemporary printmakers practice relief printing not only on wood, but also on various modern materials, thus reinvents the meaning of the concept of woodcut, enlarging its application to these various new mediums. Because each of them has specific properties, due to its unique chemical composition, appropriate engraving equipment and know-how are required. Thus, electric tools, abrasives and chemical substances, allowing to partially burn, carve or embed … the matrix, were added to the tools above-mentioned. Printmaking techniques then changed alongside the development of these new materials and tools, sometimes resulting in aesthetical and pictural renewal. Though this is not always fully evident, the prints may reveal indicative signs of this evolution.
… in the broader sense of relief printing
The art practice of Xylon members corresponds to one general relief concept, no matter what material or specific technique is being used,
that is to say relief printing, which, according to José San Martin, follows the next procedure. The artist starts by creating the matrix per se.
In order to do so, he conceives and produces a design onto the block to be carved, by various manual or mechanical means, either by transposing
a model or drawing directly on the surface, using a brush, a pencil or marouflage. One method of preserving the drawing is by field
cutting the block. Field cutting consists in carving around the design, in such a way that its surfaces remain raised, allowing these intact
parts of the block to be inked for printing.
Prints are then editioned, that is to say the ink is transferred from matrix to paper, by means of a baren or press, after having applied the ink on the relief matrix with a roller in a manner which depends on the texture of the support being used and the quality of impression to be obtained (ex.: higher colour densities).
Colour printing generally requires cutting one block per colour, this approach being called the additive method. However, by printing overlaid and juxtaposed colours from one single matrix, an artist obtains an interplay of surface colours, thus imparting a rich palette to the overall work. This reduction method requires only one block, being used for repeated printing and out of which the areas to be printed are successively carved or subtracted. Instead of using these traditional relief printing methods, some artists practice intaglio type printing with wood. This technique consists in engraving in relief the block of wood or its substitute and, in this case, the grooves retain the ink, instead of the upper surfaces which are meticulously wiped clean before printing. Others practice embossing, which is inkless printing while damp paper is pressed into the contours of the material. All these different printing methods and materials may be combined to create a same print. Also, of significance is the Japanese transparent watercolour printmaking method, using a single printing block.
and in freedom of approach
Xylon is neutral. The common denominator of its members is relief printmaking, that is to say it does not support or favour any particular artistic trend, movement or school of thought, be it artistic, political or religious, nor the use of specific materials or colours and, by that very fact, rules out biased views. Thus, in some ways, printmaking is being reinvented because of its ideology consisting in excluding all ideologies, which is a refreshing approach. Freedom reigns and modes of experimentation are in no way circumscribed, which is why the most avant-garde works regularly break down the codes of identification and the borders between genres. Xylon International and Xylon Québec bear the marks of this openness of mind. Both globally respect the medley of ideas and people, confirming the fact that humanity is comprised of various cultural approaches, reflecting each country's particular characteristics.
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Québec