MONOTYPES

by Genevieve Irwin Goelet

Sharp-shinned Hawk, 2017

In 2017, Justine Kibbe took me on a tour of Fishers Island’s flora and fauna. She showed me trails formed by a muskrat’s tail and arcs in the sand created by a single blade of windswept grass. I have been coming to this island since I was a child, but I felt as if I were seeing it for the first time. I began to pay closer attention to the island’s creatures; even animals that I had once thought of as ordinary took on new grandeur as I entered their world. This exhibition, primarily based on my own references, is a celebration of Fishers Island’s glorious wildlife.

These monotypes were created on Plexiglass with oil-based inks before being rolled through a press onto paper. The process is immediate and gestural. I use a roller (or brayer) to apply the paint and wipe it away with my hand and a piece of cloth. The white of the paper acts as the brightest white.

While there is a good deal of planning and practice behind each image, the finished piece takes me a few hours from start to finish. As a pianist is rewarded for hours of rehearsal, the final performance feels confident and dynamic.

~ Genevieve Irwin Goelet

Great Blue Heron, 2017

Genevieve Irwin Goelet is an illustrator, printmaker, and art teacher based in New York City. She received her BA from Princeton University and her MFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts. To view more of her works, please visit her website: