Solyluna
Screenprint / photogravure chine colle, 34x15
2005
Artist Maritza Davila
Originally from Puerto Rico, Maritza Davila has taught printmaking and drawing at Memphis College of Art since 1982, while exhibiting her work internationally.
Davila's inspiration for this piece came from time spent with her daughter at her friends' farm in Utuado, Puerto Rico. Solyluna refers to the sun and the moon, and is also the name of the farm. Davila describes the house and surrounding land as magical, among the mountains near the center of the island. She views this humble wooden residence as a metaphor for nature and its fragility. Her technique involves rubbing crayons over the screen before printing the layers of color in combination with a photogravure image of the farm itself. In this way she gives an impression of the actual place while expressing her wishes for her friends' prosperity, represented by the structure and blue skies surrounding it.
