Distant Systems

With their distinct palette, overlapping spherical forms, and shifting tones and effects, the compositions of Schiff’s prints reference a range of sources, including telescopic views of planets, moons, and other celestial bodies; imagery from science fiction; and abstract compositions by artists such as Wassily Kandinsky. The formal qualities of Distant Systems—an ongoing series about the cosmos—also recall a range of printmaking techniques, including woodcut, screenprint, and lithography, as well as photography and painting. Rather than work in these traditions, however, for more than four decades Schiff has used a state-of-the-art color laser printer to create permanent pigment prints. In a process she describes as employing the machine "like a paintbrush," she achieves blurred edges, flashes of light, unexpected color combinations, and a variety of textures not produced by other printmaking methods.