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Print Details:

Artist: Tom Spleth
Title: On the Cosmology of an Alternative Universe
Medium: 6 colors printed from 4 lithographic plates and 2 drypoint copper plates
Dimensions: 27.5 x 39 inches
Date: 2007
Edition Size: 16
Printers: Phil Sanders, Deborah Chaney
Price available upon request. Please contact RBPMW at rbpmwpublications@efanyc.org.

About this Image:

On the Cosmology of an Alternative Universe is a 6 run, 6 color, lithograph with intaglio. The first three layers are printed from lithographic plates.  The paper was then soaked and one of two dry-point intaglio plates, drawn with sandpaper, were printed in a light colored ink. The ink was allowed to oxidize on the plate to achieve the intentional variation of color within the mark. These dry-point plates are the reason for the variability in the edition. The fifth layer was printed from a lithographic plate in a silvery black that allows the previous intaglio layer to show through as a series of ghostly graphite marks. For the sixth and final layer the paper was again soaked and another dry-point plate was printed in black ink.

On the Cosmology of an Alternative Universe began with the final dry-point plate, a conversation, and an experience.  Walking from his house to his studio in the Mountains of North Carolina the morning after a premature freeze that had blackened the leaves in a field of tall weeds, Spleth experienced a rare moment of harmony in the forest.  For just a few seconds, as a wind blew through the trees, all of the blackened leaves pointed in exactly the same direction.  This experience was the beginning of his desire to create a work that allows one to view of the forest and the trees at the same time. On the Cosmology of an Alternative Universe realizes this concept in a 2-d format.

Artist Bio:

Tom Spleth is a nationally renowned, North Carolina based artist who is well known in the fine arts ceramics community. In his career, he pioneered fine art slip casting, was tenured at Alfred University, and has shown extensively nationally and internationally. His solo retrospective of 2-D and 3-D work opened at the Gregg Museum of Art & Design in North Carolina. You can see more of Spleth’s work at www.spleth.com.

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