artist talk

the exhibition opened on March 15, 2022 on the occasion of the international day of printmaking. on April 1st, a talk with the artist took place, which was attended by many visitors despite the corona restrictions. after an introduction about the term "peintre-graveur" and about the techniques of etching using the examples of old masters such as dürer and rembrandt, melissa mayergalbraith impressively explained the specific characteristics of the formation of the image in intaglio printing in her graphic work. on the one hand, she emphasized the physical, almost violent confrontation with the material by scratching and etching the copper or zinc plate, and on the other hand, the by no means merely mechanical process of printing. unlike painting, in which color is applied directly to the surface of the picture, in the process of etching, the picture is created by subtractively removing material from the printing plate and remains only dimly visible during the process of creation. only after printing does the complete result become visible - and always reveals unexpected effects.