On a formal level, my graphic style is flat, with heavy zones of black ink with no tonal variation. Rather than creating depth on the picture surface through the three-dimensional modelling of form, my style invites the viewer to create their own depths within my prints. As a graphic artist, my work centers upon screen-printing and emphasizes the expressive possibilities of line, mark, and the printed word over colour. I produce individual prints and art books, which combine figurative illustration, literary narrative, and typographic design.
Much of my work draws upon the history of literature and science. In my Palingenesis series of prints (depicted above), I explore a central theme of 17th-century science: the possibility of recreating a flower from its ashes. From the Greek palin (again) + genesis (life, birth), palingenesis denotes rebirth and recreation.
The possibility of recreating a flower from its ashes was tied to mastering and understanding nature’s causes. While some 17^th-century scientists believed they could unveil and master nature’s secrets and recreate a flower from its ashes, others believed that the subtleties and secrets of nature would always, in part, evade the human mind, and a flower, once turned to ash, would never rise again.

Daniel Etigson