Artist Mary Anne Molcan's linocut artwork is on display at Island Mountain Arts' (IMA) gallery in Wells. The exhibit is titled Liquid Light, which is also the name of one of the many pieces in the gallery.
"Light is fluid. It travels in a straight line at twice the speed of sound. It can reflect off objects and refract through others. It interferes, disperses, diffracts, polarizes, and creates shadow," the exhibit summary says. "These changeable qualities are what makes light fluid. Light also forms the biological basis of visual perception. The human visual system is geared toward understanding, creating meaning and assigning value. My practice explores interactions between elements of the natural world and human values."
Molcan's career for decades was in optometry, she said at the opening she believes that experience has deeply influenced her artwork. In her work, she carves a block of linoleum by hand before inking it and using a press with paper going down onto the block. After the first layer is complete, she does a second layer of carving, inking in another colour and pressing and repeats the process for each layer.
"I was attracted to the meditative qualities of hand carving and the mechanical action of the press. I just love that mechanical action of the press and I think that stems from my optical training," she said. "I used to actually put a lens on an edger and cut it to the shape of the frame and I think that that's why I was so attracted to this process."
That process' margin of error increases when she adds more layers. She explained it's easy to carve in the wrong spot and must always make sure things are perfectly lined up while going through the process.
Molcan's work has won several awards and been featured in magazines, on websites and even at Harvard. For the Harvard contest, out of 1800 entries 121 prints were chosen and one of Molcan's pieces. The piece is titled Plexus and is one of her most intricate works on display at IMA, she believes one of the reasons it was selected is because of the intricate detail and how difficult that is to achieve.
One of the pieces on display at the IMA gallery is called "Chromatic Aberration" which is what it is called when light makes colours as it passes through a lens of sorts. She was looking through a wineglass and saw what she described as a "beautiful kaleidoscope of colours" and that is what inspired the piece.
The piece is made of nine layers, starting with white and then moving onto yellow, orange and then into pinks and blues. Each layer has a unique appearance and the final product is an almost tunnel-like swirl of colour.
She's also passionate about teaching young people how to create lino art. She showed examples of the work she created with students in Wells while she was in town with Styrofoam blocks.
"It gives me joy to go and teach the kids new ways of making marks and new ways of making art," she said. When asked what advice she has for young artists, Molcan said, "keep making marks. Because that's all art is, it's your mark."
