E.118 Dark coast 1998

• I. 1st state of 4

  

  Etching and burnishing. A large rock formation dominates the plate, finishing near the left margin; below the rock is a narrow strip of choppy sea. Behind the principal rock is another, taller one with a crevice at the upper right, through which the sky is visible. There are dark clouds along the left edge that are lightly burnished in several places.

  Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Dark Coast’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R. Amor 98’.

• II. 2nd state of 4

  

  The outline and contours of both rock formations have been substantially darkened and thickened with drypoint, particularly along the upper horizontal of the front formation and at its topmost left peak. The clouds along the left have been further lightened with a burnisher. Dark accents have been added to the waves in two places at the lower right.

  Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘2 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Dark Coast’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R. Amor 98’.

• III. 3rd state of 4

  The outline and contours of both rock formations have been lightened, especially at the left of the front formation, where some vertical burnishing has taken place, and at the topmost left peak, which now appears considerably lighter. The clouds at left and at the top are also lighter, having been further burnished back.

  Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘3 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Dark Coast’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R. Amor 98’.

• IV. 4th and final state

  The outline on the left of the front rock formation has been modified with drypoint to include three small protrusions near the top and one below the concavity in the rock’s profile. Drypoint been added to the lower section of the front rock, above the foaming crest of the wave.

  Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘Bon à tirer’; lower centre: ‘Dark Coast’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R. Amor 98’. This the fourth and final state is also a bon à tirer impression and forms part of the edition.

   

• IV. 4th and final state (bon à tirer impression) (Featured Image)

  

• Edition, 1998

  Nominal and variable edition of ten, but only three impressions were printed and numbered. These were printed on wove paper by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. The edition included a bon à tirer impression (described under ‘IV. 4th and final state’, above) and three variably printed artist’s proofs: AP I (cleanly wiped), AP II (selectively wiped) and AP III (with light plate tone). Each impression is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[status of impression]’ [or] ‘[1 through 3]/10’; lower centre: ‘Dark Coast’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R. Amor 98’.

  Edition sheet size: 380 x 274 mm

• Comment

  Dark coast, with its pronounced abstract quality, is based on a painting of the ocean cliffs and the sea that Amor made on site at Port Campbell, Victoria. He adapted the painted view to the smaller format of the etching plate by focusing on the cliffs, to the exclusion of their ocean setting, and by shifting the horizon downward and allowing the dark, irregular rectangle of rock to occupy virtually the entire pictorial space. The cliffs’ surfaces are depicted in a cubistic manner, with areas of parallel hatching going in various directions, suggesting not only form but weight.

  Throughout his work on the plate, and especially from the second state onwards, as he began to burnish back areas of sky, Amor kept his focus on the cliffs, and wiped the state impressions cleanly. Only in the artist’s proofs printed as part of the edition did he experiment with plate tone. This experimentation survived into the edition, which, though tiny, is variably printed.