Artist Statement

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Candyland is an imaginative children’s book story written by a child.  In the fifth grade I was assigned to write a story.  Having a strong sweet tooth and a fondness for the board game Candyland, I decided to write a sassy tale about a castle made of candy.  It remained my favorite story I had ever written for a long time, and I always longed for future, adult Emma to find purpose in this story, and maybe even get it legitimately published.  When I took Anne Burton’s printmaking class I was at a loss of what to draw and create that’s when I decided to use my childhood story as a muse and create the book I always wanted.   

To create the book I used multiple versions of printmaking including: intaglio, linocut, monoprint, and woodcut.  Printmaking is an old art form that came about in order to create multiple copies of work.  It was also used to create books and newspapers back in the day.  The easiest way to explain the printmaking process is to compare it to a stamp.  Essentially, the artist creates an image to cut into their preferred surface.  That surface is then inked up after being cut and lastly rolled through a press where the ink is transferred to paper.  The ink usually must be laid down in layers if more than one color is used.  I decided to show off my woodcut, one of my intaglio plates, as well as one of my linocuts in order to better show the different processes.   

Along with the printmaking side of my artistry, I decided to make a body of photographic work to tie in with the Candyland fairytale.  I created three wetplates, one ambrotype, and a mirror portrait to go along with the story.  Wetplate is the oldest form of photography.  For this process I poured a thin layer of collodion onto a tin plate, sensitized the plate to light, took a photo using a large format camera, and developed the plate all within 10 minutes.  The ambrotype is created the same exact way, except instead of using tin you use glass.  The wet plate process is an extremely technical process that took even the masters years to fully learn.  The mirror portrait was created by scraping off the backing paint on the mirror and placing a print behind the glass.  I decided through photos to show off three characters: King Jacksonsweet, the Queen of England, and the daughter Elizabeth, as well as show off the candy castle and forest surrounding it.

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