Online Exhibition

Emma McIntyre: If not, winter

For her first presentation with David Zwirner following the announcement of her representation, Emma McIntyre spent a week at a print shop in the mountains of the Mojave Desert to develop a body of unique works that build on her experimental, alchemical techniques.

The workshop at Farrington Press, a print studio that sits at the base of a functioning observatory in the high desert. Photo by Daniel Dorsa

The New Zealand–born, Los Angeles–based painter is known for her vivid abstractions that combine chance-based, intuitive processes with historical motifs and strategies, creating a mode of painting that is uniquely her own. 

McIntyre’s compositions are often transformed by her use of oils and unconventional substances, like oxidized steel, leading to spontaneous and unbridled organic interactions.

At Farrington Press, an off-the-grid, solar-powered print shop in the remote California desert, McIntyre worked with master printer Kyle Simon to create a series of monotypes that extend and explore the foundational tenets of her painting practice.

On her first day in the desert, McIntyre met Simon for a hike through a canyon to discuss how the printmaking process could align with her painting practice, and he proposed an idea of transferring rust from metal plates onto paper. Here, taking advantage of the expansive desert workspace, they prepare a copper plate for the oxidation process. Photo by Daniel Dorsa

A copper plate that McIntyre has painted with an oxidation solution rests on the outdoor workspace. Photo by Daniel Dorsa

McIntyre reviews a freshly pulled print, where a faint floral motif is layered over the steel oxidation transfer. Photo by Daniel Dorsa

 

McIntyre applies an oxidation solution to a copper plate, which, when dry and transferred to a pre-soaked sheet of paper, results in a vivid turquoise hue.

McIntyre began each monotype with either a bright and evocative wash of background color, or an impression from a plate made of oxidized copper or rusted steel, leaving behind organic, brilliantly pigmented hues. Floating atop this initial layer are motifs from her painted oeuvre, including depictions of rose peonies and wheat stalks.

Simon pulls back the paper to reveal the printed image. The striking burnt-orange hue that dominates this work was created by transferring the pigment from a rusted steel plate directly onto the sheet.

“I’ve never been that deep in the desert. It was spectacular and totally isolated.… There’s lots of rusty cars, broken-down machinery, rusty sheds. It was quite cool because Kyle honed in on the fact that I use rust in my work and was really interested in it.”

—Emma McIntyre

McIntyre and Simon working outdoors. Photo by Daniel Dorsa

McIntyre reviews one of her prints while still on the press to gauge whether she’d reached the desired outcome. Photo by Daniel Dorsa

Informed by the distinct desert topography in which they were created, the works pull organic motifs from McIntyre’s painting practice, most notably the continued gestures toward landscape and the flower.

Installation view of works by Emma McIntyre from If not, winter, David Zwirner, New York, 2024

View the Works in Person in New York

Monotypes rest on the studio’s drying rack. Photo by Daniel Dorsa

“If not, winter is taken from a fragment of a poem by Sappho, and is also the title of a book of translations of Sappho poems by Anne Carson. I like its fragmentary nature, opacity, and the reference to the seasons.”

—Emma McIntyre

McIntyre paints a flower motif directly on a steel plate with the oil-based ink she uses in her paintings. Photo by Daniel Dorsa

Installation view of works by Emma McIntyre from If not, winter, David Zwirner, New York, 2024

The artist outlines a peony rose, a motif she often uses to “punctuate” her compositions. Photo by Daniel Dorsa

“Often, it was about getting the painted line in somehow, which is something I find fascinating about printmaking. You can really pick up the brush stroke if you get it right. There’s a real satisfaction in getting a distinct brushmark in a print.”

—Emma McIntyre

Simon and McIntyre leaf through works in progress in the print studio.

“Coming back to the studio, there’s been a shift—things have loosened up. Maybe it has to do with having to trust the process. I have a tendency to stare at a painting to figure out what to do next. This experience made me want to spend more time just going for it, getting the paint down, and realizing I have subsequent layers to figure things out.”

—Emma McIntyre

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