KEN BUHLER

Ken Buhler’s most recent project at Jungle Press is a series of prints combining marbleized paper and lithographic printing. The rich complexity of color and pattern generated in the practice of marbling reflects Buhler’s longtime interest in the natural world, both in appearance, and process. The affinity became a starting point for his new series of monoprints titled Compass.

To begin, the artist made a series of vibrant marbleized paper sheets, by hand, in his studio. After organizing the fifty-three original paper sheets into groups, he brought them to Jungle Press. These handmade marbled sheets then became the “field” upon which we printed new shapes of color wash, laid on top of the marbled paper backgrounds.

What the artist calls “the combination of spontaneity, control, and chance inherent in the marbling process” was extended to the printshop through the utilization of particular templates printed on top of a distinct range of his marbled papers. The artist states: “Like fragments of the continents relocated to new and varied worlds, these combinations of template and marbled paper generated unique interactions of form, color, and space that could not have been predicted.” Consistent with Buhler’s work in painting and drawing, his approach of receptive engagement with material and process encourages the emergence of possibilities through both design and chance.

The artist reflects: “Looking back to the prints I have done at Jungle Press in the past, they also reflect an interest in the natural world. “Coral Blue and Coral Gold were inspired by the meandering patterns of brain coral that I observed snorkeling in the Yucatan Peninsula. The Birdlands prints have their roots in the cadence and poetry I found in the names of birds. It has been such an honor and a pleasure to work with Jungle Press on all of these series. I have come to regard these printmaking sessions as exploratory experiences that not only result in wonderful images, but as an opportunity to break the patterns of behavior that we all fall into in our studios.”

—   Andrew Mockler