Paul Furneaux – Rain Salutation: Green

$750*

*Price listed for IFPDA Print Fair. The recommended retail price (RRP) is in GBP (£). The equivalent price in US dollars may vary according to the currency exchange rate on the day of purchase.

Rain Salutation: Green celebrates rain as a force of nature, life-giving and nourishing, or in discord, potentially destructive.  Furneaux’s composition is a ten-block mokuhanga construction in the ukiyo-e Japanese woodcut tradition, with the addition of contemporary varnished blocks and an etching plate. The bottom of the print hints at a viewing platform and orientates our view of the rain, with cut marks filled in, as if loaded with rain drops. The surface fluctuates giving space and pause, perhaps after a storm.

Paul Furneaux uses abstract language to embody aspects of nature or cityscapes. He works with innovative approaches to the Japanese woodblock printing process of mokuhanga: hand printing with a baren; using varnish resist and a squeegee to drag the colour across the wood, exaggerating the grain; cutting the surface, and printing intaglio and relief from the block. The push and pull of surface, pigment and paper create rich visual dialogues. The foundation of his practice is the experience of landscape, cityscape and nature, often encountered on epic walks and journeys, where he is exposed to the physical demands of endurance and long periods of contemplation.

Furneaux studied drawing and painting at Edinburgh College of Art (1982-87). He then spent a year working at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. In 1996 he was awarded the Monbusho Scholarship to take a master’s course in woodcut printing at Tama Art University in Tokyo. His works are held in public collections including: The National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh; Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh; Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum; Falun City Collection, Sweden. Paul Furneaux is an elected member of The Royal Scottish Academy.