Ted Braggins
Artist Statement
My work uses the landscape as a fundamental source for expression on many levels. The breaking of the traditional picture plane into spaces that can function as pure form while working spatially is vital to the image structure. I like to take apart space and then re-create it in an altered form using line, shape, color and texture. The landscape images that I have been working with are often used as metaphors for emotional qualities and are expressions of personal meaning. I believe in a psychological form of landscape that is able to represent aspects of human feeling. I also use solitary images of forms in nature such as rocks, cliffs, waves, herons or trees that have qualities engendering perplexity and contemplation. Describing a sense of place in the Hudson Valley, Upstate New York, in the Catskills and Adirondack Mountains or other areas where I have traveled to or lived in is an important part of my work. I am interested in showing the long view, and will often select roads, distant mountains or valleys. Free standing trees in full bloom or in decline with broken branches are also source material. I believe that the features within a view shed can show life cycles and change while providing for a personal interpretation of the landscape.
The works are produced on paper in a variety of media. Many are monotypes, lithographs or combined with additional print media. I find that working in printmaking provides me with a level of control that allows for the use of strong color, layering and transparencies. The works that are produced may appear to have a uniform surface while having depth and richness
All works are hand printed by the artist, at Pondside Press Graphics Workshop in Rhinebeck, NY, founded in 1985.
