EDITION INFORMATION

We are inspired by a variety of informational systems that are part of our everyday lives. In our latest series we reinterpret card suits, beginning with diamonds and spades.

The first playing cards originated in China in the 9th century and were believed to be used as actual currency. The resemblance of symbols in some early European decks to the ring, sword, cup, and baton classically depicted in the four hands of Indian statues may suggest that playing cards have an Indian origin. Four-suited decks with court cards evolved in the Muslim world and were imported by Europeans before 1370. In those days, cards were hand-painted and only the very wealthy could afford them, but with the invention of woodcuts in the 14th century, Europeans began mass-production.

The cards we use today are derived from French designs. The most common international pictures are developed from early French courts. France gave us the suits of spades, clubs, diamonds and hearts. Their use of simple shapes and two flat colors (black and red) helped facilitate manufacturing. The spade (or pique) may have derived from the sword or leaf, and the diamond represented money and wealth. Our diamonds and spades are manipulated into patterns that are both communicative and decorative.

Like our numbers series, we layer transparent and opaque pigments, and are interested in what new colors are created and how these colors react with one another. In the larger, 18"x14" sized prints, we manipulate the surface of the pigment print, adding a letterpress layer. It is our intention that the viewer appreciate design, the curve of line, and positive/negative space in a new way.