N O R T H C O A S T T IM E S E A G L E , MARPRIL 2004
When I think of silent film actresses, I think of glamour,
mystery, and passion What impresses me most, however, about
actresses of the silent film era, was their ability to portray the full
range of human emotion primarily through facial expression.
Dark smoldering eyes, expressive eyebrows, mobile mouths,
showing you at once what emotions they were portraying —
pain, anguish, flirtation or seduction, anger, joy, or even malevo
lence. I had been working with black and white monotypes and
wanted to concentrate on face studies because the press I was
using was limited in size. I found some photos of silent film
actresses that were perfect for my purposes and continued to
find more images, in books, on the Internet, etc.
These monotypes are a tribute to the divas, vamps, and
flappers of the silent era.
A monotype is a print that is created by first rolling or
painting ink onto a flat surface like a plexi-glass plate. Using a
variety of implements, rags, pencils, cotton swabs, even fingers,
the artist removes ink from certain areas and perhaps adds ink to
others. After the image is complete, a sheet of paper is placed
on the plate and put through a press. The image is then trans
ferred to paper. This process can be repeated using the same
paper to create a layered effect.
Kirsten Horning lives in Seaside and works at the
Clatsop Community College Library.
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MONOTYPES BY KIRSTEN HORNING
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