Initiations Series – Adornment

Adornment shows female figures set in the interior of a central London house.

‘I gave my first series of lithographs the title Initiations to reflect that working with the medium of lithography was a new venture for me. In terms of mark-making, lithography is the printmaking process closest to painting, but it still presented a completely different way of building an image. I had to consider how, through overlaying transparent layers of colour, I could use a relatively limited palette to build complex scenes. The prints in the set were diverse in subject matter, reflecting a shift in subject in my painting practice at that time, from staged luxury towards an interest in artificiality and illusion.  Adornment portrays two women engaged in faintly ritualistic activities against trompe l’oeil backdrops that they appear to become part of, blurring the line between the reality and fiction.’

Caroline Walker