THE PROCESS

THE PRINT
To realize a vision of her work that goes beyond the photographic print, Chris Dei collaborates with fine art printer Antoon Taghon, owner of Uptown Fine Art Printing Studio, Inc. in NY. The prints, done on an exquisitely unique handmade paper, have a texture that evokes brushstrokes of a painting, enhancing details, imbuing them with a sense of depth.

Antoon was introduced to Chris in 2008. “I’ve worked with many artists, but Chris is out there! She is unlimited in her thinking and has a deep belief in where she wants to go... Usually Chris comes into the studio with a well-developed concept. This is one of the key things to us working so well together.

When you have a concept there is a foundation. You can build on it, change things and move forward…. First, Chris explains her vision to me. Then she provides her digital files and the proofing stage begins. All monitors and printers are calibrated. Color profiles are created for each medium printed on. The mind of a printer has to be perfectly alligned with the artist he is working with and the medium he is printing on,” says Antoon. “He mirrors my vision,” Chris says of Antoon.

When the proofs are pulled, Antoon and Chris review them together, seeing how the medium has absorbed the ink, bringing out the details and depth of the photo images. The realization of Chris’ vision through Antoon’s sensibility and expertise is an on-going and exciting process. The handmade paper, which is very absorbent and has an old world look and feel to it, requires particular attention to balance of ink and color management. “Handmade paper has its own characteristics,” says Antoon. “You need to smell it, touch it, sleep with it, and bend it to know what it is. It is truly a challenge to properly prepare a digital file for print on such a unique media - definitely not for the faint of heart,” Antoon says.

Antoon has been able to bring Chris’ vision to fruition through his unique sensibility, talent and experience - gained over years of training from masters of the old school in Belgium where he is from. Printing as art, with the medium not subordinate but intrinsic to the artwork, is crucial to their collaboration. A rare relationship, where two artists are so sure of their own skills and vision they value the other’s talent, working together to realize a vision that transcends what each alone could achieve.

THE PRESENTATI0N
Chris has developed an art form where the finished work is clearly more than the sum of its parts. As a chef blends textures, flavors and regional styles to create a nouvelle cuisine, so does Chris combine the traditions of photography with the regional textures and natural imagery of the Serengeti, thus creating a unified summation of her experience in this magnificent landscape. The relationship of the art, to the way it is presented, provides an additional understanding of how Chris views the work and how it is intended to be seen. For the frame designer, this represents the greatest opportunity to collaborate toward a common goal.

Inspired by Chris’ work, Michael Fitzsimmons, owner of Frame King and the Westwood Gallery in  Bergen County, N.J, begins the process by hand deckling each print to create an elegant border, exposing the natural edge of the handmade paper. The print is raised above the mat and floated on a pressed tissue background creating a subtle shadow and further emphasizing the texture shown in such detail in the prints themselves. It is then recessed in the frame to provide an archival separation between the UV acrylic and the art.

The platinum toning and deep golden hues of the Savannah are reflected by the luxurious patena of the bronze frame. The finished piece provides a transition from 21st Century American and European interiors, to the timeless expanses of our common ancestors.