Amy Lincoln: Monoprints

Each monoprint in Waves is the result of a meticulous, fully hand-executed process developed in close collaboration with master printers Brad Ewing (Marginal Editions) and Mae Shore (Shore Publishing). While Amy Lincoln has explored printmaking before, this series marks her first foray into monoprinting—a process where every impression is entirely unique.

The prints were created through a multi-stage approach:

1. Hand-Painted Silkscreen Layers:
The lower portion of each composition—Lincoln’s stylized waves—was built through five individually hand-painted silkscreen layers. Working reductively, transparent inks were printed in succession, with areas masked off at each stage to preserve and reveal underlying color. Rather than layering new hues, Lincoln and the printers created tonal shifts and depth through repetition, resulting in soft gradients, dimensional shadows, and glowing transitions.

2. Halftone Overlay:
A sixth screen printed halftone—a subtle layer of fine dots—was added atop the waves, mimicking the sparkle of light on water and enhancing the illusion of motion and surface texture.

3. Relief-Printed Skies:
The upper quarter of each print was created using a single hand-carved linoleum block, printed in four carefully mixed colors. Known as a “suicide print” method, each layer of the image was carved from the same block and printed in sequence—meaning once carved, there was no turning back. This technique demands precise planning and an intuitive grasp of color. Nine unique sky colorways were created for the series, lending each monoprint a distinct mood and atmospheric presence.

4. Custom Color Mixing & Precision Registration:
Every ink used in Waves was mixed by hand, with painstaking care taken to align silkscreen and relief layers. Lincoln, Ewing, and Shore worked in close collaboration throughout—adjusting transparencies, refining compositions, and testing overlays to achieve the final harmony of each print.

5. Singular Compositions Within a Shared Structure:
Though the series shares a unifying format, no two prints are alike. The interplay of hand-painted wave forms and uniquely printed skies makes each work a one-of-a-kind exploration of light, color, and form—a painter’s vision, translated through the language of print.