The process of creating Blooms and Imprints intimately connected Sandy Gellis with the weather for an entire year. This 12-part etching records the rainfall in 1999. Each month, a metal plate coated with a water-soluble ground was left outside. The rain reacted with the surface of the plate, which was then placed in acid, leaving an impression of the monthly precipitation. At the same time, rainwater was collected each month. The paper used to print each section was soaked with the amount and content of that month’s collection. Gellis chose the colors by associating what each month evoked to her. This work reveals a new way to think about accumulation and time, beyond inches and days of rainfall.

Sandy Gellis’ has been engaged with the environmental processes for many years. Her installations and works on paper have been shown extensively, most recently at La Specola, Florence, Italy; the Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY; Karen McCready Fine Art, New York, NY; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Cygnus A. is a permanent commission integrated with the landscape at the Sedgwick Branch Library, Bronx, NY. Her work is in public collections including the Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney Museum, and the Smithsonian. More information at www.sandygellis.com.

1999: Blooms and Imprints, 2000
etching on rainwater soaked paper, 12 parts; edition of 12
6” x 24” each
Courtesy of the artist