Ana Bianchi
ongoing series of new color/flora project, photography and mixed media.
“Kids always ask, “What is your favorite color?” Grownups rarely do. I think it is very telling when you finally find out.”
Ana Bianchi is an artist living and working in the San Francisco Bay area (USA) in her home studio in Walnut Creek. Her approach to color is AnaLovesColor and she identifies as a printmaking phoenix–in that, whenever she returns to printmaking in her art, it is with fire and intensity. Her colorful, detailed and line-loving work is created with a variety of printmaking techniques, including: etching, aquatint, drypoint, chine-colle, xylography, linocut, rubber stamps and monoprint. In addition, Ana creates mixed media works on paper and canvas, and she works with digital tools and photography.
How does the printmaking process itself relate to how you work with color?
Color is central to all my art making -from design, to textiles to illustration. Printmaking, for the most part, is the only black and white part of my art making. I see colors in my head, but I turn them to tones using beautiful black Charbonnel ink on a slightly off white linen paper. Black is such a powerful non-color. I once sat for over an hour, at Rothko Chapel in Houston, looking at his famous black paintings. The place is powerful, I was so moved that I was weeping. By the time I left, the paintings were not black anymore, my eyes had adjusted to seeing reds, magentas, grapes, aubergine. I would like to try to do this in printmaking.
“I once sat for over an hour, at Rothko Chapel in Houston, looking at his famous black paintings. By the time I left, the paintings were not black anymore, my eyes had adjusted to seeing reds, magentas, grapes, aubergine.”
The Aristocrat & The Inheritance intaglio and chine-colle, 24 x 17 inches.
ongoing series of new color/flora project, photography and mixed media.
What color do you wish you could buy? Why this color?
There is no wrong color for me, just wrong usage. Having said that, I always love a perfect periwinkle and I am obsessed about a particular shade of orange-red. I am always looking for them in all art materials (and garden flowers)
Childhood Dream (series) intaglio prints, 24 x 10 inches.
What cultural aspects of color are built into your work?
Simply said, I am from Mexico, so I have a natural tendency towards bright, saturated colors. I never say no to a hot, almost neon pink or a particular shade of green-blue used in a lot of popular art in Mexico. However, to counterbalance my saturated inclinations, I have become increasingly interested in chromatic whites, grays and neutrals, especially when they interact with the bright colors.
an early intaglio print by Ana (age 6)
What is your favorite color?
I am always interested in what are people's favorite colors, I love when I find someone that says, "I love purple" or "chartreuse". Kids always ask, "What is your favorite color?” Grownups rarely do. I think it is very telling when you finally find out. Even as I explore other colors, my favorite, since I was a little girl is green.