Bobbi MeierThese images represent an exploration of hats as visual symbols for the human that wore them. In my search to visualize the many "hats" that I wear I stumbled on the realization that certain hats can conjure images of famous, infamous and not-so-famous people.
Jackie Kennedy and her iconic pillbox hat from the 1960's became especially intriguing to me, as I was an 8 year-old child at the height of her popularity and tragic end to her reign. The "Mystery Man" hat was developed out of a memory of my father and his "business-man" fedora that he wore to work everyday on his way to the train and that mysterious place known as Chicago. Coincidentally, this hat is reminiscent of Magritte and his use of a similar hat in many of his paintings.
These prints were created using multiple wood blocks in a process known as relief printmaking. The raised areas receive the ink, which is deposited on paper when run through a press or printed by hand. The pillbox hats were printed using 4 colors on Japanese rice paper. The fedora was printed with 3 colors also on Japanese rice paper.
March 20, 2006 |
