Eric Hoffman

My body of work explores several approaches to engraving. I have been working in a traditional fine line rendering and also a more stylistic graphic approach. I engrave the image into a small block, then ink the block by hand and make the actual print on an old iron printing press from the 1890’s. I enjoy using these century old tools and processes to make more contemporary works based on imagery I am interested in.Working on a small scale enables me to intensely focus on this attention to detail. My prints are composed of white lines on black surfaces creating rendered subjects. Giving definition to the subjects of each print involves engraving the lines in such a way that the viewer’s mind reads these black and white areas as different shades of gray. My mind has begun to work backwards – rather than drawing a black line I now think to engrave away the light areas. The tool has become one with my hand, enabling me to take a black surface and visualize which highlights need to come out of the block to create tone and image. I am constantly pushing to see exactly how fine I can engrave a subject and how dark I can make an image without losing that focus. Prints using this technique can be seen in the Relief Engravings section located in the Gallery.