Introduction to The Etchings of Mina Nouri
‘From 1988 I became fascinated with the organic form of the rope and its recurring rhythmic composition which I began to incorporate in my paintings.
A rope is soft and flexible yet consistent in form and at the same time subtle and orderly in structure. Inspired by its form and structure I have combined this with elements in nature which are structurally irregular and arrhythmic in order to express the play of opposites.
In one period of my work ropes together with a white square were imposed on a background from nature, landscape, sky, clouds or a portrait, while at another time they lay on surfaces of varying textures. Later in my work, in the absence of the white square, ropes were juxtaposed with rocks.
I am not concerned with the literary connotations of rope. In principle, narrative painting has never appealed to me. If I were to tell a story I would be certain to use writing as a medium rather than painting.
To paint I need to think in the language of images with its own symbolic concepts and metaphors. What is important to me is to be able to represent opposites, a concept that prevails in all relationships in life, in forms, colors, compositions etc. It can be presented in visual or auditory forms as well as in writing. Within opposites lies the potential for perfection which in itself merits observation.
This book is a collection of my experiments, from 1997 until 2002 in Chalcography (intaglio) using etching and aquatint on copper and zinc plates. I have also used the technique of Monoprint not in its classical application of producing a one off print but in combination with Chalcography which in turn has made it possible for me to make further prints.
The thickness of copper and zinc plates used were 1-1.5mm and 2mm respectively. The works in this collection have been printed in Italian Cometa ink, French Charbonnel ink, Iran ink (make in Iran) and German GS ink. Most of the works have been printed on 285gr Italian Fabriano paper using a Nuovo PONY copperplate press made by a Paolini Company in Italy.
A characteristic of Chalcography (intaglio) is the impression the printing press leaves on etching paper, a feature that makes this distinct from all other visual arts including painting or drawing. I was for some time preoccupied with how I might achieve the same effect with offset printing. I contacted several printing houses with advanced machinery and expertise in offset processes. Originals were scanned but this did not achieve the desired results…
Mr. Ahmad Aali suggested making slides of my work under unconventional lighting using a complex photographic technique. The slides were then scanned and the result was the exact match of what I had in mind…’
Nouri, Mina. The etchings of Mina Nouri. Tehran: Mina Nouri, 2002.