PRESSURESCAPES: Seven Questions To

November is the turn of Valdas Misevičius and his mysterious shadow theatre.

I was born in 1981 in Klaipėda, Lithuania.
I studied art at Klaipėda Children Art School, and in 2005 I graduated from the Lithuanian Academy Of Music, where I studied film directing.
Since then I have been working as a film and television video editing director.
In 2011 I started to pursue my interest in printmaking.

Walking, etching, 2011.

The characters of your prints are always human beings, etched forever a state of transformation: sometimes they appear so delicate they look like they could gently fly away any moment now, sometimes they look like they are on the verge of bursting.
Can you talk to us about the reason of this contrast?

These drawings are a stream of consciousness, some lonely monologue.
They come by the hundreds when I make sketches, but I choose only a few of them for my etchings.
I appear to select the ones where the figures always go, fly or move somewhere, or just stand there motionless.

Contrast indeed plays an important role in your works, as your subjects dance, leap and run in front of - or maybe behind - a blank and white space, like a shadow theatre.
Can you tell us more about it?

I am very interested in the human figure, it is my main source of inspiration.
The face and the other details are not as interesting to me as the human shape is - in motion, looking for something.
I never think about the meaning of my drawings, the most important thing is that they make an impact.

What are your favourite methods of printmaking?

Etching has a strong result and the work process is fun: carving, polishing, the etching acid, etc.
Drypoint is very simple, I like the fact that the outcome is much like a pencil drawing.
On the other hand it can be a complicated method too, and a lot of plates and prints end up in the trash.

What is the aspect that you prefer about printing?

The repetitive work gives me a lot of joy.
When the freshly applied ink is removed from the copper plate and the drawing appears distinct - the moment when I decide to stop cleaning the ink is one of the sweetest for me.

What and/or who influences your prints?

I cannot accurately answer this question, even though I probably have many creative influences.
Usually just simple everyday things, such as a calm day, silence, light, dusk, certain words... emptiness, and the desire to overcome it.

How do you think printing will evolve?

No one knows.
Each new printmaker brings something to the world of graphics.
The thing I really like about printmaking is that it is very conservative.
This is its attraction - the technique has not changed in a lifetime.
Acid, copper plate and needle, and the result on paper is always different...

Can you tell us something about your next printmaking project?

I haven't thought about it yet because my Figures series is not complete, what I have made is only a small part of the initial idea.
Maybe it will be portraits.