4stones: A Silkscreen Interlude

To mark the twentieth anniversary of 4stones, I wanted to explore a new medium: silkscreen printing. I had long wanted to learn this technique. The classes I took at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York, where I was living at the time, gave me the opportunity to work in a remarkable printmaking studio and create this series, which may lead to further experimentation.

To produce these prints, I started with cyanotypes I had made the previous summer. After scanning them, I created two separate film positives, one for the stones and the other for the background. These were used to expose the silkscreen frames, through which ink is then transferred onto paper using a squeegee.

Silkscreen printing opens up an almost limitless range of possibilities for exploring color. Through the interplay of color combinations and contrasts, each palette takes on its own emotional character. In this exploration, I was particularly inspired by Sanzo Wada, the Japanese painter whose work on color harmonies has greatly influenced my thinking.

With this new chapter, 4stones continues its journey around the world, beyond borders. Born on a beach in Andalusia, the project has traveled across continents with four pebbles carried by a Frenchman, bringing them into contact with people from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures: Chilean, Moroccan, Vietnamese, American, and many others. The stones pass from hand to hand without distinction, and each person contributes a composition of their own.