Sue Allen, Studio Ink

Brightwood, Oregon

Suite Sixteen

A portfolio of sixteen screenprints depicting lanterns in the Portland Japanese Garden at the four seasonal apexes, contained in four Byobu Japanese folding screens, and housed in a Shiho Chitsu Japanese four-sided case. Screen prints are original limited editions on Arches 88 paper. The Byobu/Shiho Chitsu materials are: Yuzen green/gold flowers paper, Shuji gami sumi-e paper, kozo washi, Tyvek hand dyed with FW acrylic artists’ ink, Asahi green/gold iridis Japanese bookcloth, binder’s board, bone closures. The intent is that each Byobu be a table-top displayed during its appropriate season. Created in a limited edition of ten. 21.5 x 30.5 x 5.75 centimeters. Created 2006.

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I have been a printmaker for over thirty years, producing a line of hand-pulled cards and original limited edition screenprints. A degree in architecture from The Cooper Union in New York City helped develop a sense of design and graphics. After years of dealing with the 2-D format, I have felt the urge to do some 3-D. This has manifested with studies in the book arts, with the original intention of producing special limited-edition portfolios for suites of prints. All along the way there has been a strong influence from the Japanese aesthetic —and that certain sense of beauty. This first appeared as my choice for thesis in college, designing and building a full-scale one room “Japanese tea house” based on traditional architecture, and I recently completed a suite of sixteen screenprints depicting lanterns in the Portland Japanese Garden, and a limited edition of ten cases for full sets. Mostly Japanese materials were used, with an emphasis on keeping with a sense of simple elegance. My explorations continue to be refined by more complex relationships within the art and craft medium, and bringing them together in obvious and unusual juxtapositions. Website at www.sueallenstudio.com.