The Witch is Inside of Me
“The Witch is Inside of Me”
Artist book with hand-colored intaglio and letterpress
Edition: 20
E-mail RaeleenKao@gmail.com for purchase inquiries
//Project Description//
This year I was invited to be a visiting artist for Spudnik Press‘ publishing program. For years I have been interested in producing an artist book based on paper doll chains (read about my use of doll imagery here) and using the book format as a conduit for my narrative subject matter. It was an honor to be invited to Spudnik Press and I am thankful for the numerous skilled friends and colleagues who have helped me achieve my goals with this project (credits at the end).
//Artist Statement//
I started this book as a letter to my childhood self and the overwhelming number of women and men who were raised the way I was. I was taught from birth that purity was one of the greatest assets that a woman should possess. This childhood education on gender roles was further enforced by western European cautionary tales that condemned female sexuality and punished disobedience to a parent or husband with deadly consequences. These stories collectively defined young women as weak, fault-ridden beings whose salvation lay in the hands of men while older, knowledgeable women with power were cast as the face of evil. As a child, I obsessed over these stories and I always gravitated toward the princess, the obedient daughter, the undeniable protagonist in a world constructed with definite good and evil.
When I grew older, I learned that these principles were a combined reflection of my western-centralized and antiquated conservative Asian upbringing. The roles of good and evil are much more fluid in other parts of the world. In Eastern European stories, Baba Yaga can be depicted as an evil witch or a kind old woman. African and Native American cultures utilize the trickster archetype, which is neither defined by good nor evil. In East Asian ghost stories, which I was unfamiliar with for the first two decades of my life, spirits are often neutral or just mischievous. Equally as common are malicious spirits who are often women whom have died from unnatural causes and are seeking vengeance toward those who have wronged them. In Chinese folklore, the nu gui (female ghost) harms men but only scares women. While western religions demonized witchcraft, many other cultures considered it to be a fundamental part of their medicinal practice.
This book upends the nefariousness attributed to curiosity, sexuality, and disobedience in females and imbues the characters who raised me with power by embracing the corruptible, dual-faced nature within all of us.
//Documenting process//
Using the plasma cutter to cut shaped copper plates
Below is a video of the plasma cutter *flame emoji*
Below is a video of submerging the plate into a Ferric Chloride bath. Everywhere the copper is exposed (the drawn lines) will be etched with ferric, and those etched recesses will be able to hold ink. Most of these videos are taken from my Instagram stories, so I apologize for the video quality and distracting text.
Spit bite is an aquatint process of directly applying acid to the plate (not using a bath) video shown below:
Below is a video of printing these etchings double-sided
Thank you so much to Laura Prieto-Velasco (Hvnter-Gvtherer) for bringing me as a visiting artist at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and allowing access to the plasma cutter, Jennifer Melby for steel-facing my copper plates, Amanda Cheung for helping me with Adobe Illustrator, because I am almost utterly incompetent when it comes to anything digital, and Jessica Robles for saving my butt with her recommendation of Koi watercolors.
Last but foremost, Angee Lennard from Spudnik press, who is a true force of nature in the amount of work she is able to accomplish and who I have indefinite respect for. Thank you for inviting me to be a part of an amazing printmaking institution. Her input, technical skill, patience, and professionalism for the duration of these four months have made this project one of the best experiences of my career.
xoxo,
Raeleen