Ball and Flame

Medium: Mezzotint
Dimensions: 7 x 8 3/4 inches (image)
Artist details: American, 1953
Date finished: 1982
Edition: of 75

Recommended by Nikki (Art Photographer / Marketing and Exhibitions Specialist):

Carol Wax is an expert mezzotint printmaker (a time-consuming process that uses extreme lights and darks to build up an image on a copperplate). In this scene fire, twine, and darkness (with time as a witness) play an important role in Wax’s narrative. To feed the light, the twine must burn, but there is a finite amount of the consumable resource before the flame inevitably goes out and it becomes dark.