Marguerite French

Show ran from 3/1/2000 to 3/25/2000

Under Glass, recent prints

Marguerite French is a printmaker whose work involves an exploration of the natural world: plants, flowers, leaves, and other organic forms. Her current series of printsUnder Glass depicts plants growing in a garden conservatory. These protected environments combine the natural and the artificial in a beautiful illusion of harmony. French views these garden hothouses as places which merge contradictory impulses toward nature: the desire to preserve nature "as it is," and the urge to perfect it, to present nature "as it should be." The intaglio prints shown are photographic abstractions of plants grown in such conservatories. The original photographic sources of the plant imagery have been cropped, enlarged, and manipulated through use of computer applications. The final images are the result of a photo intaglio process. French has thus created a series of hybridized plants in this print series. This exhibition is a culmination of French's involvement with ARC Gallery as a Scholarship Member of the gallery.