Taino Myths

2012

Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

___

Pressure printing is an alternative image-making technique by which a flexible plate (backing sheet) is placed behind the press sheet and run over a type-high, inked surface. The resulting image is made up of haloing ink from varying degrees of pressure from the backing sheet. Bridget Herrara used this technique to create Taino Myths (2012). The work was inspired by the annotations of Friar Ramon Pane, who was commissioned by Christopher Columbus in 1495 to live amongst the indigenous people of the island of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic) and transcribe their tribal beliefs and practices. Herrara printed on the Vandercook Press SP-20 using Stonehenge paper, which is thick enough to take the pressure. This limited edition of five won the Hand Book-binding Prize for 2012.