Back Then

For my first copper etching, I wanted to create something different and a little illustrious. I chose to draw style inspiration from some of my family’s favorite vintage children’s books and used a reference image of me, my brother, and cousin on our grandparents’ porch swing. I spliced the paper colors together to divide the image, hoping to evoke a sense of longing or reminiscing on past moments spurred on by a recurring sentimental physical space. I also added a brief description of who is in the picture, like my grandma wrote on the back of all her photos.

The process of copper etching is very involved. First, I polished a copper plate and coated it with an acid-resistant hard ground. I then used a sharp tool to scratch through the ground, exposing the copper surface beneath. Once the design was complete, the plate was submerged in an acid bath, which bit into the exposed copper, creating grooves that would hold the ink. The plate then needed to be cleaned and inked. Ink was applied to the entire surface of the plate and then wiped off, leaving ink only in the etched lines. Finally, I dampened paper, placed it on the plate, and ran both through a printing press under high pressure. The pressure transferred the ink from the plate to the paper, creating the final print.

Copper Etching (2023)

11.5” x 13”