May 2018 – Joanna Mittman

From 2D to 3D

How does a flat 2D monotype become a 3D mobile?

First, I make several monotypes: one for each facet of whatever mobile I want to build. For example, if I decide to make an icosahedron, which is made of 20 equilateral triangles, I first need to create and print 20 different monotypes – one for each triangle.

From there, I score, cut and fold 20 triangles, arrange them in the proper configuration, then move them around like puzzle pieces until I like what I see.

Then I put on my patience and precision music (some days Handel, some days Led Zeppelin) and the gluing begins…

What Inspires Me?

Because my art is so different from what people are used to seeing, I’m often asked about my inspirations. Broadly, I’m influenced by the artists I grew up seeing and loving: Calder, Picasso, Appel, and Miro, to name just a handful. Theirs was the art I was moved by and drawn to. More specifically, I’m inspired by the perfect way randomness and precision fit together in the world. The starting point for all of my pieces is random because my monotypes are abstract [insert image of abstract monotype] but also precise because I transform those abstractions into perfect geometric forms. I guess the effort to find order in chaos is as old as time, so in that way there is really nothing new here. But I do like the idea of creating my own unique order by putting together these random pieces.

Creating a Monotype

All of my pieces, whether 3D geometric mobiles, wall pieces with 3D components, jewelry, or wearable art, begin with the creation of unique black and white oil prints, called monotypes. Monotype is a printmaking process that is different from most others (such as etching or woodblock) because the image is created only a single time and cannot be reproduced. I apply oil paint to an acrylic plate, manipulate that ink on the plate to create abstract images, then put printmaking paper on top of the plate and run everything through my hand cranked printing press. The press transfers the ink on the plate to the paper, creating a unique print.

Watch me making a monotype here.