Annmarie Campbell

What motivates me is contact with material—the grease in ink, the smell of solvents in the printshop, burnished graphite, the thickness of paint, flimsiness of paper. In addition to responses to art media, my imagery develops from sensuous encounters with food, my own body, the bodies of others, and real and imaginary landscapes.
I am heavily influenced as a printmaker by my interest in cooking. From the start, I have viewed the printshop as my second kitchen. Preparing food is closely related to printmaking because they are both process-intensive. I think of the relationship each time I put on an apron to print, mix pats of inks, use grease on the press, or whip my colors for silkscreen.
My work is also touched with narrative qualities. Biomorphic outlines sometimes suggest bodies or land. My fascination with the human body is centered on its ability to feel pain merged with pleasure, disgust coupled with appetite.
The short fiction of Georges Bataille inspires my interest in sublime dualities. I find myself formally influenced by the paintings of Cy Twombly, for their qualities of looseness, sensuality and otherworldliness. Artists who care about food also infiltrate my thoughts. For example, Gordon Matta-Clark, who opened a restaurant where artists were the chefs, and sculptor Janine Antoni’s work Gnaw, where she illustrated the hand of the artist by using her teeth on blocks of chocolate and lard.

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