Bonnie Ralston

My journey into printmaking was borne out of necessity. With COVID-19’s temporary closure of my city and my ceramic studio, I turned to what I had at home for creative exploration—in this case, a collection of scavenged metal junk I had been intending to use in my sculptural work. A timid investigation that began with corroding a single street sweeper bristle onto paper using lemon juice has grown into a fertile artmaking practice that continues to surprise me, and to teach me. While the media are different, these works on paper and my sculptural works have shared roots in material/process exploration and themes of impermanence and transformation.

Through printmaking, I capture on paper the interactions between iron, water, and time. The stains, marks and textures are the result of electrochemical processes catalyzed by repeated application of salt solutions and household acids to metal street detritus that rests upon, or is pressed between, sheets of paper. The images emerge over days and weeks, with gravity, humidity, and rate of evaporation defining the colors and textures. The hydrophilic quality of salt ensures that the works are never truly finished, as the paper and salt continue to absorb and release water from the air resulting in a subtly and slowly changing surface. Often associated with neglect, weakness, and danger, rust and corrosion are celebrated here for their promise—the eventual disintegration of the whole that is necessary for change. Each work seeks to reframe destructive moments as sources of unexpected beauty and possibility. And by using the cast-off and the “worthless” in the intentional creation of art, I invite the viewer to consider our daily judgments and assumptions, and what we miss when we stop seeing and stop seeking.