This mixed media print is a study in contrast and emergence—balancing texture, structure, and organic form. Built from a printing plate made of cardboard and carborundum, the surface holds a dense, tactile quality that interacts with areas of transparency and softness. Charcoal linework defines and disrupts space, drawing the eye through abstracted botanical forms and textural imprints.

Using Akua inks and layered tissue paper, I developed the palette in stages—pushing and pulling color across the composition to evoke growth, weathering, and quiet transformation. The bold verticals on the right suggest upward movement, with leaf-like shapes formed from collage, ink, and gestural charcoal. On the left, the composition softens into earth tones and textural washes, allowing negative space and circular forms to emerge like echoes or imprints of memory.

The layering process was slow and intuitive—each pass through the press revealed a new interaction between materials. This piece reflects themes I often return to: how fragility and resilience can coexist, how surface can carry story, and how growth doesn’t always follow a straight line.