Tanja Isbarn, series Mono I – VI
The series Mono consists of six small works. One specific shape recurs in each work, reminding one of a large rounded boulder with a rough surface (“monolith” – from one block of stone). The acrylic spray-treated paper received one or more prints of the same linocut. Each work was individually shaped by Isbarn into its final form. The monos each have a specific “counterpart,” a perspex sheet in blue, white (transparent here), red, green (Tanja Isbarn Mono IV grün), yellow and fluorescent orange. The various monochromatic colors hide and emphasize – at the same time – details of the underlying printing and painting, giving the whole a mysterious depth.
The work features a mounting facility. A click system enables space for light and shadow through an inch of distance between paper and plastic. The two parts can be “played with” by allowing them to dialogue with each other in different positions.
The combination of the manually crafted paper and machine-cut plastic, the curved, “emerged” stone form and the rectangular, constructed window above it evokes a dramatic tension, even at this modest size.