Artist Statement

Most of the work prepared for this show was done in the last 12 months. The work began with monotypes done in Rock Creek Park. They were studies of the rock formations that line the creek.

I thought it would be interesting to try one of those images as an etching, so I began to focus my attention on the various intaglio methods. The work included a number of landscapes and outdoor scenes, and several prints done from sketches of riders on the subway.

As winter approached and I was unable to continue working out of doors, I began studies of small objects. Some of these were from my garden, but one was an object that I found in the street on a gray November day... a lost pompom.

I rescued that item, and began to work with it and with other things I found or made. My concern was not the object itself, but the marks I was making to describe it. Those marks were made with techniques that included drypoint, hard and soft ground, and engraving.

My greatest interest in the works in this show is in texture of the prints. Engraving particularly leaves a thick ropey line of ink on the surface of the print. The surface marks are unique to hand pulled prints and have fascinated me because of the added dimension of “data” embedded in the print.

Biography

Ellen Winkler is a printmaker, painter and graphic artist who has lived in the Washington DC metropolitan area for over 20 years. Having graduated in1981 from George Washington University with an MFA degree in design, she has worked for both private
industry and the federal government. She is currently Art Director of The Chronicle of Higher Education’s opinion and arts weekly, The Review.

In 1995, Ms. Winkler joined The Washington Printmakers Gallery and began a period of intensive work in printmaking. Beginning as an etcher, the artist’s work has evolved from etching, to almost exclusively monotype, to her new intaglios.

Influenced greatly by the work of Jack Boul, Lee Newman and Rosalie Day White, Ms. Winkler’s work is small in scale and intimate. Her subjects have included studies of people seen in lunchrooms, city parks, and the Washington Metro system.

The artist explains, “While it is always pleasant to produce a successful or pleasing picture, the real excitement of making art for me arises from the interactions that I experience among my subject, myself and my materials. For this reason, making art always
remains an exciting and revelatory process.”