CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
MICHIPICOTEN
An abstract submitted in partial satisfaction of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in
ART
by
Susan Marr
May, 1984
The abstract of Susan Marr is approved:
Dolores Yonker
7
Tom Fricano, Chair
California State University, Northridge
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ABSTRACT
MICHIPICOTEN
by
Susan Marr
Master of Arts in Art
The series of prints in my Master's show, entitled
Michipicoten, were initially inspired by a childhood
memory of a Native Indian legend of an island within an
island.
Such a land formation is found in Lake Superior.
However, the configuration of one landform within another
personifies for me the protected/protective quality of
interdependence that I have found throughout my life.
I have chosen printmaking as my medium because of
its versatility.
The etched plates have become permanent
tools with which to explore systematic variations through
changes of colour, off-registration, and collage.
By
working with these variables within a similar format, the
exploration and experimentation of the imagery has become
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a tireless and exciting pursuit.
The four plates used for all the prints in Michipicoten are based on the topographical grid pattern and
were initially etched with vertical and horizontal lines.
Diagonal lines were then introduced to offset the stability of the square format of the grid, and aquatint was
added to further define the island within the island.
Individually, the plates have incomplete images.
But
when one is printed on top of another the island within
the island emerges.
By using multiple plates, the illusion of depth is
created by building-up or layering transparent colours,
printed in sequence from the lightest to the darkest.
In his book Interaction of Colour, Albers states,
''Colours present themselves in continuous flux, constantly relating to changing neighbours and changing
conditions.''
(Albers, page 5)
The observation of these
neighbouring colours and values has prompted my choices
of referential and atmospheric colours.
Each successive
colour is determined by the preceding colour printed
on the surface of the paper.
By using the same four plates and changing each
successive image within a print, by varying the colour
within the format or fragmenting the images and collaging
them, a temporal order is suggested.
Bergson stated
that "a certain order of succession in time, itself
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implies the representation of space .... "
page 102)
(Bergson,
This "order of succession" is represented by
the sequentiality of the images within each print.
With
each image determining the next, yet remaining simultaneously in view, both the passage of time and the illusion
of space are projected.
The co-existence of these two
concepts reflects W.J.T. Mitchell's proposal that time
and space are not separate entities, but rather have a
relationship of "complex interaction, interdependence
and interpenetration."
(Mitchell, page 276)
The use of referential and atmospheric colours in
these works, the succession of images within each print,
and the protective/protected implications of Michipicoten
symbolize my personal conviction concerning the
action and interdependence of organic systems.
v
inter~
References:
Albers, Joseph.
Interaction of Colour.
University Press, 1963.
Bergson, Henri. Time and Free Will.
Company, 1913.
London:
Mitchell, W.J.T. The Language of Images.
University of Chicago Press, 1980.
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London:
Yale
MacMillan
Chicago: