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About the Element
Darmstadtium is the synthetic chemical element, a superheavy metal, of
atomic number 110. The first atom of the heaviest chemical element was
detected in Darmstadt, Germany in 1994. The element 110 decays after a
small fraction of a thousandth of a second into lighter elements by
emitting alpha-particles which are the nuclei of helium atoms.
Reading about Darmstadtium I instantly imagined its superheavy atom
lifted by an old-fashioned circus weightlifter. He is struggling under
the weight while looking expectantly at his wristwatch: the weight is
supposed to lighten any millisecond now.
About the Print
This is a multiple plate linocut printed with Daniel Smith oil based
inks on white Rising Stonehenge paper. I ran the lime green plate first
and then printed dark blue and black using the jigsaw method. Since
I've done two other prints for the project (#50 and #101), I tried to
make my Darmstadtium print not only look good next to the neighboring
elements, but also be in style with my Tin and Mendelevium linocuts.
About the Printmaker
While studying graphic design and illustration, I came
across linocut relief printmaking. At first, the medium
seemed to me very plain, even dull - no tricks, no
mystery. But quite soon I was completely taken in with this
technique. I found that honest and straightforward, the
linocut doesn't have means of hiding a poor drawing, weak
composition, and lack of content, so the artist has to be
excellent in all these. Even a simple black and white
prints can be very powerful if it's well designed. Multiple
plates, reduction technique, and gradient inking make
exploring the possibilities of relief printmaking full of
excitement.
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