Polly Apfelbaum | Barn Star monoprints

2022 - 2023

  • Polly Apfelbaum has revisited her Barn Star monoprint series with Durham Press, which began in 2022, to create new compositions using the same original format. These woodblock prints measure 25 x 25 inches and are made on handmade Japanese paper. Apfelbaum has also created two large-scale Park sized monoprints which measure 79 x 79 inches.

     

    The Barn Stars series plays with motifs seen in Pennsylvania folk art which Apfelbaum was exposed to while growing up in the area, specifically the heart and 'barn star' imagery found in Pennsylvania quilts and hand-painted onto agricultural buildings. These patterns have become a focal point for Apfelbaum at Durham Press, as seen in her previous portfolio Heart and Soul (2020), and now in this new series of monoprints. Both the portfolio and monoprints use geometric patterns to play with creating composition through color - a method Apfelbaum is no stranger to at Durham Press.

  • 25 x 25" Monoprints
    Like Heart and Soul, Apfelbaum's Barn Stars use their repeating structure as a framework to play with color theory. Though... Polly Apfelbaum Durham Press Barn Star Woodblock Monoprint Like Heart and Soul, Apfelbaum's Barn Stars use their repeating structure as a framework to play with color theory. Though... Polly Apfelbaum Durham Press Barn Star Woodblock Monoprint Like Heart and Soul, Apfelbaum's Barn Stars use their repeating structure as a framework to play with color theory. Though... Like Heart and Soul, Apfelbaum's Barn Stars use their repeating structure as a framework to play with color theory. Though... Like Heart and Soul, Apfelbaum's Barn Stars use their repeating structure as a framework to play with color theory. Though...

    Like Heart and Soul, Apfelbaum's Barn Stars use their repeating structure as a framework to play with color theory. Though seemingly straightforward in their use of color, these monoprintscreate dramatically different visual effects. In her original 2022 Barn Star series she focused on an almost monochromatic palette, inverting gradations within their complimentary colored borders: some seem to radiate from their center as the print progresses from light to dark, while others collapse inwards when the gradient is inverted within the same composition.

     

    Apfelbaum's new monoprints created in 2023 no longer radiate, but instead seem to shatter with outward energy as the sharp points of the diamonds are emphasized by the stark contrast of bright yellows next to dark purples or fire orange against light blues. In some, she simplifies the star by replacing the 72 individual diamond blocks that make up her previous prints with 8 bigger diamonds, while in others she has filled the space to its energetic capacity with multiple smaller stars.

  • Park 79 x 79" Monoprints

  • The two Park sized monoprints, measuring a colossal 79 x 79 inches, act as a comparison of these two approaches. Barn Star (Park 1) expands the gradation and loops back over itself: the colors begin to ebb and flow, swimming within the eye as it pulses between shades of pale, to sky, to dark blue. Barn Star (Park 2), conversely, breaks up the gradations by placing them in comparison with each other. We experience each star individually, then are then visually thrown between the larger grid of stars as they pulse in and out, drawing us in and projecting us outward in this contained explosion.

     

    While these Park prints also mimic the scale of the quilts they draw their inspiration from, all of the Barn Star monoprints bring to mind the quilting process: just as a quilt is made up of small blocks of fabric, each print is made by woodblocks individually placed by the printmakers at Durham Press. Barn Star (Park 1) contains over 800 woodblocks – an impressive and daring undertaking that Apfelbaum is no stranger to taking at the Press.

  • Polly Apfelbaum Durham Press Barn Star Woodblock Monoprint (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Polly Apfelbaum Durham Press Barn Star Woodblock Monoprint (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Polly Apfelbaum Durham Press Barn Star Woodblock Monoprint (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Polly Apfelbaum Durham Press Barn Star Woodblock Monoprint (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Polly Apfelbaum Durham Press Barn Star Woodblock Monoprint (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

    Printing Barn Stars, 2022

  • For more information on the Barn Star monoprints, or other works with Polly Apfelbaum, please visit her artist's page or contact us at sales@durhampress.com.