Do Birds Think? 16/20, 1990
mixed media (litho, woodcut, collage, oil on paper)
36 x 53 in.
Do Birds Think was printed on a Steinmesse & Stollberg offset litho press. All thirty colors were hand drawn by Squeak Carnwath. In order to change the texture of the lithograph, six layers of oil paint and Liquin were applied to the surface. Strips of Japanese paper, torn and placed horizontally, were added to the left panel. Words were then stenciled on this panel as follows: one AP and edition numbers 1- 7 have no stenciled words added; 8-10 & 14-20 have black stenciled words; 11-13 have both black and white words stenciled on top of the stripes. The right side has a stencil of dots with a bird in the center. In the final step, a painting executed by the artist was then stapled to the left panel. Each painting is different; hence, no two prints are the same.
Combining lists of words, numbers, and written observations with images of elemental objects like bones, leaves, the moon, or the body, Squeak Carnwath creates luminous paintings out of the most unassuming visual materials. These works address Carnwath’s personal experience of daily life, as well as her interest in fluctuations of mood and other emotional and physical states. From 1987 to1990, Carnwath produced at Magnolia a series of mixed media, intaglio, and lithographic pieces that used the essential elements of her paintings to produce similarly understated, but visceral effects in works on paper. Carnwath received her MFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, CA, in 1977. Since that time she has been the recipient of numerous awards, including two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and, in 1994, a fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation. She shows regularly with David Beitzel Gallery in New York, and the John Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco. Her work is included in numerous public collections, including those of the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; the Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA. Squeak Carnwath currently lives and works in Oakland, California.
