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Sarah Gillespie – A Lament for Bordered Gothic – Print Launch
Sarah Gillespie – A Lament for the Bordered Gothic (Detail). Mezzotint, 49.5 x 74 cm, Edition 30, 2022
“This a lament for all of our winged nocturnal neighbours and their gradual passing from our lives.” – Sarah Gillespie
Rabley Gallery is delighted to launch two new mezzotints by Sarah Gillespie of the Bordered Gothic Moth. This adds to the collection of 26 prints of moths currently in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection and further explores the artist’s interest in the luminous power of mezzotint engraving to express beauty and vulnerability.
Lament for the Bordered Gothic and Bordered Gothic (Small) were made in response her recent six month artist residency at the Cambridge University Museum of Zoology. The Bordered Gothic moth (Heliophobus Reticulata) is critically endangered in the UK.
In the large scale mezzotint Lament for a Bordered Gothic, (49.5 x 74cm) the detail of the moths top wing pattern subtly contrasts with the softer underwings, emerging from an expansive plane of velvet darkness in the black background. The smaller study Bordered Gothic (Small) (20.5 x 20cm), draws us in with a casting light, framed by a paper border. Its modest scale does not lessen the image’s strong and beautiful presence.
Sarah Gillespie – A Lament for the Bordered Gothic. Mezzotint, 49.5 x 74 cm, Edition 30, 2022
Sarah Gillespie – Bordered Gothic (Small). Mezzotint, 27 x 27 cm, Edition 20, 2022
Sketches by Sarah Gillespie, beginning the process.
Wiping the copper plate in the studio after inking.
The mezzotint plate of A Lament for the Bordered Gothic, with the artist’s primary tools.
Short film depicting the process of printing A Lament for the Bordered Gothic, 2022.
2025 Mezzotint Plate 61 x 91cm Paper 72 x 102cm Edition 25
2025 Mezzotint Plate 40 x 40cm Paper 51.5 x 50cm Edition 25
Mezzotint Plate Size 17.5 x 12.5cm / 7 x 5ins Paper size 32 x 25cm / 12.5 x 10ins Printed on a blue black ink on 370sgm Arches Moulin du Gué paper Edition 10
Mezzotint Plate Size 17.5 x 12.5cm / 7 x 5ins Paper size 32 x 25cm / 12.5 x 10ins Printed on a warm black in on 370sgm Arches Moulin du Gué paper Edition 25
White Ermine Moth Mezzotint engraving, 2025 Printed on 300gsm Arches Moulin du Gué 28 x 38 cm (Plate 15.5 x 21.5 cm) Edition 40, 4 APs, PP, HC
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Nut-tree Tussock, 2024
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2024 Mezzotint Size: 43 x 43 cm Edition 30 Printed on Moulin dú Gue
2024 Mezzotint Print Size: 30 x 30 cm Paper Size: 40 x 40cm Edition 30 Printed on Moulin dú Gue
Mezzotint, 2023 Paper 35 x 28cm, Plate 20 x 20cm Edition 30 Printed on Moulin dú Gue
RABLEY GALLERY
Rabley Drawing Centre
Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 2LW
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