Crochet IV, from Crochet I-V

"The Mixografia® technique is a unique fine art printing process that allows for the production of three-dimensional prints with texture and very fine surface detail. With this process, the artist creates a model or maquette with any solid material or combination of materials on which he or she incises, impresses, carves, collages, or builds-up in relief the image to be reproduced. Copy plates are molded from the maquette, and the edition is printed on handmade paper pulp which can withstand the extreme pressure of a three-dimensional press.

Bourgeois was approached by Mixografia® Workshop with the proposal to make an edition. After seeing examples of the sculptural possibilities of the medium, she agreed to participate. Crochet I-V takes inspiration from various drawings of meandering, twisting lines, which Bourgeois felt were particularly well-suited for the medium. With the help of Judith Solodkin of SOLO Impression, New York, Bourgeois used red string as a drawing tool to create a series of linear compositions and a representation of a woman’s braided hair. The maquettes were then cast at the Mixografia® workshop into copper plates, which were hand-inked and pressed with handmade paper" (Deborah Wye, Louise Bourgeois: The Complete Prints & Books, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2018).