Andrew Sovjani

I use alchemy in a hybrid analog/digital technique to create prints from B&W film negatives that have been chemically altered by hand with acids, bleaches, toners and other homemade concoctions. My creative process of image interpretation is completely done by hand with chemicals in the darkroom. The iterative chemical mark making creates beautiful colors and line work from a previously B&W image. However, these alterations are only stable for a short period of time so the final step is to bring the image into the computer to create an archival pigment print edition. Whitewashed is a series that came into being during the Covid lockdown in 2020. It is my attempt to convey the sensory pleasures of books, their materiality and possibilities as abstract elements. The newest work also explores the limits of our visual preconceived conceptions. I paint the vintage books white to suppress title recognition to give the viewer time to take in the physical aspects of the books in their compositions. All images are made using large format film and then scanned and printed by the artist on baryta coated 100% cotton rag paper in an edition of 25.