INK GOES DEEP: INTERVIEW WITH RODRIGO VALENZUELA
Musée interviews art department professor on the occasion of his first solo exhibition with the Asya
"Musée: I want to begin by congratulating you on your first solo exhibition with the Asya Geisberg Gallery. I’m curious, what initially attracted you to photogravures?
Rodrigo Valenzuela: The primary reason I wanted to do photogravures is that I was searching for something that would feel like an indentation on the paper. I wanted the printed ink to be deep in the paper in the way that the concrete forms I’ve been taking photos of are heavy. And also, because the inks get so deep in the paper, they get this velvety look that’s almost dusty in the same way that the concrete is dusty. With the photogravures, there is an illogic in the grain, but it’s also super sharp. That’s the first reason. The second reason was that I wanted to slow down the process of photographing in a way unique to the experience of making an image. So, each photo is different. Every time I print, I have to touch it. It’s very nice to be able to print images whenever you want digitally, because there is a consistency. But with this, there is a uniqueness. The prints become more interesting when they have problems. Which is closer to life in some ways.
Musée: I read a bit about the methods with which you created the compositions––the forms all carefully stacked rather than glued––do you feel that the process of image making, in addition to the final product, helps to construct your narrative?”— Mica Bahn, Nov. 10, 2020
This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Musée website.
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