Laser Engraved Woodblock
Emma Sultmanis, January 28, 2020
Engraved birch plywood panels
12.7 × 17.785 × 0.635 cm
Created using laser-cutter technology at Zavitz Hall, Guelph, ON.
Personal collection
The laser engraved woodblock reflects the present, and the contemporary developments in technology that have advanced the scope of artmaking. Creating a woodblock is the initial step in the printmaking process, whereby an image is established on a surface, coated in ink and pressed onto paper to create a print. The emergence of this novel technology allowed for the direct translation of a photograph or digitally manipulated image onto a tangible, printable surface. The laser engraving process requires approximately one hour for a panel this size. Since the final artwork is sold or displayed, and the original substrate is likely destroyed or discarded by the artist once the edition is completed, it is uncommon for the viewer to see this primary realization of the artist’s work.
The content of the print aims to bring attention to the endangered monarch butterfly. Digital manipulation using Adobe Photoshop allowed for the synthesis of a macro-photograph of the scales on a monarch butterfly’s wings with a birds-eye photograph of an avocado plantation in Michoacán, Mexico. Currently, these crops are encroaching upon butterfly reserves – locations where native Oyamel Fir trees house monarch butterflies on their wintering grounds – threatening to decimate the species. Pressure on farmers from businesses and gangs, and the promise of income from the increasingly popular crop, pushes farmers to engage in illegal planting, deforestation or logging. A ‘butterfly effect’ of catastrophic problems in nearby communities has ensued; the shallow roots of the trees cannot prevent land erosion like the native species, and the extensive use of chemical inputs in agricultural operations has led to contamination of nearby waterways. This artwork is intended to inspire environmental activism and encourage awareness by disrupting the imagined community of protected areas as “magical, untouched spaces”. The monarch butterfly is already threatened by climate change, various predatory insects, and the lack of it’s host-plant, Milkweed, due to increased urban landscaping. As the artist, I intend to bring attention to this beautiful and struggling species and impart that every single person can help keep this species alive.
Direct image output through laser cutting technology eliminates the historic and laborious task of carving, and allows for greater detail and photorealism of the final print. Traditional woodcarving remains in studios, however, modern technology has expanded the art of printmaking from a physical into digital process, while hand-printing remains an essential step in the process to date. As the pandemic necessitates the digitization of museums, this object gains an additional virtual layer. While technology increasingly infiltrates the modern world, it is interesting to envision the future of artmaking, and of society in general.
Emma Sultmanis