Join us at Themes+Projects for the opening night of Superposition by Carrie Ann Plank.
Artist Statement
Created during the Pandemic, Carrie Ann Plank’s works from SUPERPOSITION embrace science, data, and transformation. Working with visualizations of scientific datum as a base level, Plank explores the shape of the universe, the structures of the microcosm, visual phenomena, and Gordian Knots. Pulling from sources such as TEMS photography from electron microscopy, visual interferences such as moiré effects, revelations on three-torus shape of the universe, and historical forms, Plank strives to concrete the substructure of the universe and embrace the stability and truth of science.
Superposition as the idea of both overlaying pattern and in the principle that a system is in all possible states at the same time, is the overarching concept of this body of work and is also evident in the artist’s process. Plank’s physical process of making utilizes a unique adaptations of printmaking matrixes. Works begin as drawings translated into multiple woodcarvings that she rolls up with layers of transparent ink and transfers to her substrates. This anachronistic and laborious operation results in a distinctive mark making. Works on panel are developed from this technique and resolved with painted marks alongside with the actual matrixes that develop a patina from multiple printings and become works of art themselves.
About the artist
Carrie Ann Plank is a San Francisco based artist working in the mediums of installation, printmaking, and painting. Plank’s work is included in many private and public collections including the Fine Art Archives of the Library of Congress, Fine Art Museums of San Francisco, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, the Guanlan Print Art Museum in China, Museum Meermanno in The Hague, Netherlands and The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba, as well as corporate collections including Google, Genentech, and Norwegian Cruise Lines. Recent noteworthy solo shows include Themes + Projects in San Francisco, Bryant Street Gallery in Palo Alto, CA, DZINE Gallery in San Francisco, and Local Language, Oakland. Recent residency projects include KALA in Berkeley, CA, Konstnärernas Kollektiva Grafikverkstad in Malmo, Sweden, Local Language, Oakland, CA, Edition/Basel: Printed in Cuba at the Taller Experimental de Gráfica de La Habana in Havana, Cuba, the Íslensk Grafík in Reykjavik, Iceland, Edition/Basel: Printed in Basel at Druckwerk in Basel, Switzerland, Mullowney Printing in San Francisco, CA, Haystack Mountain School of Craft in Deer Isle, ME, and Bullseye Glass in Emeryville, CA. Additionally, Plank has had a 20 year teaching career and most recently served as the Director of the Printmaking MFA & BFA Programs at the Academy of Art University before devoting herself solely to her artist practice in 2018. She is active in the local arts community and sits on the board of Root Division. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking from East Carolina University and her Masters of Fine Arts in Printmaking from the Pennsylvania State University.
Focusing on layers of sophisticated geometry, Plank examines the space of intersecting patterns to describe new structures. The work utilizes mathematical equations to create multiple overlapping impressions that reveal additional distinct pattern formations. The resulting forms seen through mathematical plotting are space in between, the intercession, of concrete data.
Open to the public; on view from March 5 to April 30, 2022