Enid Ratnam-Keese - 'Dichotomy'

Wednesday 4 - Sunday 15 October 2017

Dichotomy. 1 Division into two parts, kinds etc. 2. Difference of opinion, schism, split. 3. Classification into two mutually exclusive groups (logic) 4. Mode of branching by constant bifurcation as in stems, veins, leaves etc. (biology). 5 The phase of the moon or of an inferior planet where half of its disc is visible. (Gk. Dichotomia) [Random House ]

“This exhibition of recent works, Dichotomy considers the physical branching, division and mutual exclusion which exist in nature and in life.

In working these prints, I have been sub-consciously aware of these division as well as the underlying unities which exist despite difference. I am in debt to a multiplicity of sources both Asian and European: from the Asian puppet theatres and papercuts which inform the processes by which I work, to the writings of James Baldwin, JL Borges, Italo Calvino and to Goya and the Blues. 

The unique state works in this exhibition have been created by using the processes intaglio, chine collé, relief and the monoprint and by manipulating the surface of the finished product –the print.

These prints are paper drypoints. They have been taken from cardboard plates. No acids have been used and no glues or extraneous materials have been fixed to the plates to create these images.”