Stephen Maine, Pitched Planes 137, Etching, 2004

Pitched Planes 137 (Abstract print) Relief Monoprint. Unframed. The Pitched Planes series are unique relief prints, made primarily using printing surfaces that are the products of industrial manufacture. Each shape (plane) is made with a different surface. They are printed with woodcut and etching ink on 24x19 in / 61x48 cm hosho paper from Japan. In this series, Maine was thinking about the legibility of the constituent patterns as they are recombined in various layers; the optical blending of hues; and, as always, the illusion of the third dimension. Stephen Maine is an American abstract painter, writer, curator and teacher. He is a member of the American Abstract Artists and a contributing editor at Artcritical. His paintings engage and extend contemporary ideas about color, composition, surface and process. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. In a process closely akin to relief printmaking, Maine uses textured surfaces to apply fluid acrylic paint indirectly to prepared canvas. He makes these surfaces or “plates,” some of which are quite large, out of common materials such as plywood, extruded foam, plastic and glue. Maine rolls or brushes wet paint over the plate and presses it into the canvas, using custom built contraptions to ensure alignment (registration) of successive applications. Integral to the process is the idea that the entire surface is treated with paint at the same moment. For Maine that means compositional phenomena are allowed to occur with minimal interference from his ego. This approach to composition is productively at odds with his color decisions, which are closely calibrated. Sometimes a single paint application, in concert with the field of color that is the ground, is sufficient to yield a visually engaging result. In most cases, however, to complete an image multiple layers and more complex interactions of hues are called for. The entire process balances precision and unpredictability. Color itself, and the material properties of paint as embodied color, provide Maine with his primary inspiration. His open-ended and intentionally imprecise production methods yield results that cannot accurately be foreseen, and he delights in the element of surprise they bring to his studio activity. He is inspired by the aleatoric elements of his process, which allows his materials and surfaces to collaborate in the creative act rather than be scrutinized and dominated by the artist. Says Maine; “This work has provided me with a concrete way to think about compositionality, seriality, improvisation, presentation, and the psychology of visual perception.”