Trama XIII
Tramas

Artist name

Alex Gama

Artist year born

1950

Artwork make date

1983

Artwork title translation

Pattern XIII

Artwork material

wood engraving
paper

Artwork dimensions

height: 49.5cm
width: 53cm

Artwork type (categories)

Print

Accession method

Donated by Alex Gama 1994

Accession number

5:1-1994

Label text

In this example from Gama's Trama series the grain of the hardwood block is particularly evident. The prominence of the rippling lines, each marking a year of growth, suggests a huge tree whose own long history cannot be effaced by the geometric pattern which overlays it. On the contrary, in comparison to the faint lines incised into its surface the wood beneath bulges with life. Ernst Gombrich, in his book Art and Illusion, notes the universal human tendency to identify marks on a surface as representational - a figure, a face. In this print the black squares work in this way, tempting the viewer to read meaning into the patterned surface, and so adding a further dimension to the image.

Valerie Fraser

Last updated date

2008