STATEMENT
I explore the language of forms and the forces of nature through printmaking. After making black and white linocuts for many years, I was drawn to water-based woodcuts with their timeless beauty. Hand printing and the natural elements of wood, water, pigment and paper are integral to this Japanese technique (mokuhanga). The sensitivity of the wood, the transparency of water-based pigments and the hand-made papers evoke a powerful response in me. My prints are developed individually, sometimes becoming part of a larger series. Some of the work extends beyond the edge of the paper into three-dimensional space, expanding printmaking into the realm of public art and installations. I am interested in the thin line between stillness and movement, balance and chaos, and the ways in which they dance on the edge of becoming the other.
BIOGRAPHY
Florence Neal is an artist who makes prints, drawings and public art installations. A special interest within her work is the traditional Japanese water-based woodcut technique, known as mokuhanga. She attended the 1st International Conference of Mokuhanga in Kyoto, Japan in 2011. Two years later, she was awarded a five-week residency for Advanced Study at MI-LAB in Japan to study with master printers. In 1985, Neal founded Everglade Press and in 1990, she co-founded the Kentler International Drawing Space in Red Hook, Brooklyn and serves as its Director and Curator of Exhibitions. The New York Harbor is visible from her home and studio in Brooklyn, New York.
Florence Neal’s Website
