Note
Expanded Wall Label:
This print is part of the Israelite Tel Suite series. The Israelite Tel suite is a collection of four intaglio collagraphs, depicting important archaeological sites relating to Biblical Israel. A tel is a mound covering the site of some ancient settlement, generally consisting of many layers of rubble and artifacts left by succeeding civilizations. Strata accentuated by horizontal lines divide the picture into three levels, forming a cross section of archaeological time. In the Israelite Tel Suite, Bowden brings together earth and time, incorporating the present landscape of each site, some finds embedded in a strata, and centered in each piece, a significant specific object relating to the tels history.
Tel Megiddo is an ancient tel in the lush Jazreel Valley of upper
Israel whiuch has been excavated, uncovering twenty or more
layers of civilization. The most famous artifact from this tel is
this lion seal with the Hebrew inscription, “belonging to Shema,
servant of Jeroboam.” The stone wall is a section of the
Solomonic gate of the Israelite city.
A collagraph is an intaglio printing process, which used a built-up collaged plate made from a great variety of materials (strips of fabric, thread, aluminum foils, plants, marble dust, acrylic modeling paste) that are glued onto the surface of the masonite or cardboard. The surface is then painted or inked and run through an etching press at several thousand pounds of pressure, thereby transferring the paint and the texture to the surface of the paper. The process is completely repeated to create another print in the edition.