Untitled (Orange Mezzotint) [E trial proof] 1995

This trial proof print was made by Jasper Johns, but it's not dated, so its process has a kind of ongoing feel. The whole thing is a warm, orange-y brown, kind of like an old photograph, or faded textile. I am drawn to the surface quality. It’s got this rich mezzotint texture, which is a printmaking process that creates tone through tiny dots, like a photo-based half-tone. You can see these soft gradations of tone, built up from velvety darks to hazy lights. It makes me think about the layering in painting, the slow building of an image through touch. Look at the central square, how it floats there, a kind of weaving with funny motifs. Johns' work is like a conversation with art history and his own history, he uses familiar images, but transforms them through process and material. It reminds me of Rauschenberg, using what’s around you and making something new. Art’s an exchange, right? A back and forth. And it’s never just one thing.