E.154 Chelsea 2008; reworked 2009 and 2011

• I. 1st state of 8, 2008

  

  Etching and burnishing. A female life model viewed from the rear, her head in left profile and her hair in a bun. She stands with the left leg slightly bent at the knee, her left arm stretched out at shoulder height (and cut off at the elbow) and her right arm hanging down loosely. The body is modelled with cross-hatching, and with burnished highlights, which are evident on the lower back, under the right armpit and at the top of the right arm.

  Impression on wove Fabriano paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-1’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.

• II. 2nd state of 8, 2008

  Attention has been given to the details of face and hair. Hatching has been added to the cheek, the lower lip, the nasal root, and the fringe. The chin has been redrawn with an additional curved line. The fringe and the strands of hair to the right of the eye have been thinned by burnishing. Burnishing has been used to model the hatching of the flesh.

  Selectively wiped impression with light plate tone, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-2’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.

• III. 3rd state of 8, 2008

  The contour of the fringe has been outlined with drypoint.

  Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-3’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.

• IV. 4th state of 8, 2008

  The contour of the fringe has been burnished in order to lessen its prominence. There are ten variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-4’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.
  2. Selectively wiped impression with dark plate tone, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘2-4’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.
  3. Impression on wove Hahnemühle paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP I/VI’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.
  4. Impression with plate tone, on wove Hahnemühle paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP II/VI’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.
  5. Cleanly wiped impression on buff wove BFK Rives paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP III/VI’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.
  6. Impression with plate tone, on buff wove BFK Rives [Arches?] paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP IV/VI’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.
  7. Cleanly wiped impression on buff wove BFK Rives [Arches?] paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP V/VI’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.
  8. Selectively wiped impression with plate tone, on buff wove BFK Rives paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP VI/VI’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.
  9. Unique impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, within the image area, lower right: ‘R Amor 08’. This impression has been cut down on all four sides and measures 189 x 135 mm.
  10. Impression with plate tone, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-1 [over erased inscription: ‘AP’]’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 09’. Although inscribed ‘1-1’, this is an impression of the fourth state.

• IV.a. 4th state of 8, 2008

  

  The contour of the fringe has been burnished in order to lessen its prominence. There are ten variant impressions of this state.

• IV.i. 4th state of 8, 2008 (impression cut down)

  

• First edition, 2008

  Edition of ten numbered impressions, on wove Velin Arches paper, printed by Rosalind Atkins at the Australian Print Workshop, Fitzroy (Melbourne), November 2008. The edition was uniformly printed with plate tone and selectively wiped. It included a bon à tirer impression, an artist’s proof and two APW workshop proofs. Each impression is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[status of impression]’ [or] ‘[1 through 10]/10’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’. Chop mark embossed in lower right corner: ‘APW [within rectangle]’.

  Edition sheet size: 380 x 280 mm

• V. 5th state of 8, 2009

  In November 2009 the plate was cut down along both sides and at the bottom, and drypoint was added. The image (plate mark) now measures 252 x 128 mm. The matrix measures 253 x 129 mm. There are no state proofs for this state.

• Second edition, 2009

  Edition of ten numbered impressions, from the reduced plate, on wove BFK Rives paper, printed by Andrew Gunnell at Chrysalis Publishing Studio, East Melbourne, 2009. The edition included two artist’s proofs and a printer’s proof. Each impression is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[status of impression]’ [or] ‘[1 through 10]/10’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 09’.

  Edition sheet size: 380 x 280 mm

• Edition impression (second edition, 2009)

  

  In November 2009 the plate was cut down along both sides and at the bottom, and drypoint was added. The image (plate mark) now measures 252 x 128 mm. The matrix measures 253 x 129 mm.

• VI. 6th state of 8, 2011

  The etched modelling of the body has been selectively burnished, and hatched drypoint modelling has been added. The contour of the right hip has been strengthened with etching and the underpart of the outstretched arm has an etched double contour near the armpit. Additional drypoint shading has been added to the nose and to the upper lip.

  Impression on cream wove Somerset paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-1’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor ’11’.

• VII. 7th state of 8, 2011

  

  The hair at the top of the head has been raised slightly, with another contour added in drypoint. The area around the lower spine has been burnished and oblique hatching has been added to many areas of the body, in particular the lower buttocks, the left leg and the outstretched arm.

  Impression with plate tone, on cream wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-2’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor ’11’.

• VIII. 8th and final state, 2011

  The contour of the fringe has been strengthened with drypoint. There are six variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression on cream wove Somerset paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-3’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor ’11’.
  2. Impression on cream wove Somerset paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP I’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor ’11’.
  3. Richly inked impression on cream wove Somerset paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP II’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor ’11’.
  4. Cleanly wiped, dry impression on cream wove Somerset paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP III’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor ’11’.
  5. Dark impression with much plate tone, on cream wove Somerset paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP IV’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor ’11’.
  6. Selectively wiped impression on wove Arches paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP V’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor ’11’. Light plate tone has been left on the figure, including the head.

• Third edition, 2011

  Edition of ten numbered impressions, on wove Arches paper, printed by Rosalind Atkins at Around the Bend Press (Murray Walker’s studio), Northcote (Melbourne). The edition impressions are selectively wiped, with plate tone left on the shaded parts of the body, and uniformly printed. The edition included a bon à tirer impression, five artist’s proofs and a printer’s proof. Each impression is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[status of impression]’ [or] ‘[1 through 10]/10’; lower centre: ‘Chelsea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor ’11’.

  Edition sheet size: 380 x 280 mm

• Edition impression (third edition, 2011) (Featured Image)

  

  The contour of the fringe has been strengthened with drypoint.

• Comment

  This etching is based on a drawing from life of a model called Chelsea, whom Amor drew, in his Alphington studio, on 10 May 2005 (Liverpool Street Gallery 2007). Another drawing followed, and this second work was reduced, by squaring, for transfer to the copper plate. Amor also painted an oil based on the life drawing.

  In addition to working directly for Amor, Chelsea worked as a life model at Montsalvat, an artists’ colony in the outer Melbourne suburb of Eltham, where Amor also drew and painted her. Chelsea’s solid and feminine build gave her a strong presence as a subject, and Amor thought highly of her for her understanding of what was required of an artist’s model.

  Amor’s initial concern as he worked through the first four states of E.154, in 2008, was to focus on the details of the face and body and to model the flesh using a burnishing tool. In order to obtain the desired measure of sensuality, he also experimented with different papers and with plate tone, printing many variant proofs. Finally, just before the first edition was printed, he tried changing the figure’s relationship to the pictorial space, doing this by cutting an impression around its side and bottom edges.

  In 2009 he cut down the plate itself, though not as radically as suggested by the trimmed sheet from 2008 (and without trimming the image). In 2011 he returned to the plate for a third time, to attend to the modelling of the body.