Society of American Graphic Artists

Resonance: The Mezzotints of Carol Wax at the Noble Maritime Collection

Feature

Shelley Thorstensen

 

The following article first appeared in SAGAzine volume 1, no. 1, Summer 2003

Resonance: The Mezzotints of Carol Wax at the Noble Maritime Collection

by Shelley Thorstensen
The Noble Maritime Collection, a maritime museum and study center, featured the work of SAGA member, Carol Wax in the Print Gallery last spring, 2002. The exhibition presented Carol's mezzotints of utilitarian objects, machines, fibers, and fabric.
Carol writes of her work, "my images of commonplace objects reflect my personal experience of the ordinary as extraordinary. Most people give little thought to the "stuff" that takes up space in our lives but, to me, even the most prosaid item seems magical. I depict old instruments, mechanical devices, and fabric because repetitive patterns create rhythms of light, shadow, and forms that can be manipulated to convey my phatasmagorical perceptions. The ability to achieve dramatic lighting effects through the mezzotint engraving process makes it the ideal medium for my images.
"Although my style may be categorized as representational in the nature more tradition, to me still life doesn't mean dead weight. By portraying my subjects transcending their status as lifeless objects, I stribe to depict the anima in the inanimate."
Itself a living relic of the past, the Noble Maritime Print Gallery seems a good fit for Carol's work. It is housed in an award winning 1844 National Historic Landmark that served as a dormitory on the grounds of the famous old retirement home, Sailor's Snug Harbor, now a cultural center in Staten Island, NY. The Museum includes not only galleries, but classrooms and active printmaking studios. Paramount to the permanent collection are the maritime lithographs of John Noble.
Carol Wax is as known for her mezzotints as she is for her innovative work in extending the vocabulary and popularity of the medium. Her book, The Mezzotint, History and Techniques, published by Harry N. Abrams in 1990, is considered the definitive contemporary source for all things mezzotint.
Carol is currently on the teaching staff of New York University, Rhode Island School of Design, and SUNY New Paltz. Her work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Fogg Collection, the Ph8iladelpha Museum of Art, and the National Museum of Art, a part of the Smithsonian Institution. She has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across the country for over twenty years.
Date of Publication: June 1, 2003

This article has not been published previously.

All rights of copyright are retained by Shelly Thorstensen. Reproduction or publication is forbidden without the written consent of the author.
 
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