Turning Grief into Power is a collage set made of visual art and words by local artist and author, Johanna Jackson. These collage works, made over the course of the COVID lock-down, will be on display from December 2022 through January 2023.
A public reception will be held by the artist in the library's community room on December 5 at 6pm. Purchase inquires may be directed to the artist at: jmjacks44@gmail.com.
Johann's collage is made using a gelatin plate, which is soft and flexible. She explains:
"Turning Grief into Power is a Story Collage made from gelatin plate prints. (I would recommend moving through the room from left to right, if you want to see the story "in order.") I began making the prints in March of 2020. They grew from a deep sadness. As the pandemic raged, I needed to confront old sources of grief in my life. Working with bright colors, layers, and beauty helped me to helped me to stay centered during that volatile time.
Gelatin plate printing is a fairly new art form, and it's one that has gained traction in the last ten years. Like a mold of jello, a gelatin plate holds its shape, which is often rectangular. Acrylic paint squirts on top of this soft and flexible plate. The artist spreads the paint with a brayer, also called a roller. At this point, the gelatin slab looks a lot like a stamp pad: it is soft, flexible, and full of paint.
Then, the printmaker sets a piece of paper (usually cardstock) face-down on the paint. They press firmly, which "pull the paint" onto the paper. It also can draw out residual paint that remains from earlier rounds of printing. In this way, old layers and colors can mix in unpredictable ways.
I love printmaking in times of uncertainty. It helps me play with the unknown. I wonder which textures and colors will show up on the page. How will they combine? What will the colors look like when combined with the old layers? This process brings up many metaphors for me. It helps me remember the layers of my life, including difficult ones, that grew together to make a complex and beautiful whole. It also helps me greet the unknown – at least in a small way – with curiosity instead of fear.
If you look closely at the art on display, you will see a few places where old layers are visible under new ones. The last two prints, "Sing as they Grieve" and "Our Grief Unites Us," both show the shapes of oak leaves in white paint. One page, however, has a second leaf imprinted inside of the first. See if you can find the veins of that leaf! In the backgrounds of other collages, you might also see repeating shapes. Take a look at the grocery netting that is so prominent in "Bleaching." I used this netting to print on two other collages in this set. One outline is difficult to see, but the other still shows its peculiar shape. Can you find it?
As I have begun sharing this art with more friends and family, people respond to the words as well as the imagery. What comes up for you as you read the story? What do you disagree with? The pages on display come from a book that I am creating. It shares many more collages and reflections. The book explores intrusion, trust, and resilience. I am glad to have an opportunity to share a preview of it here!"
- Johanna Jackson
