Warriors

Description

Warriors demonstrates the full range of richness and expertise of Hayter as a master printmaker. Here Hayter captures the frenzy of movement of two figures in combat; the standing figure to the right ispoised to plunge a spear into the recumbent figure at the lower left of the image. The swirling engraved lines have been given shape and definition by the addition of soft-ground and color printing. The distinctions between the figures, delineated through use of color, are nevertheless obscured by the reiterative engraving lines. White relief accents throughout the composition are provided by the exploitation of gauffrages. The elimination of the surface of the plate by means of a sharp tool creates a cavity out of which the ink is carefully removed prior to printing the plate. The dampened paper is forced into the cavity as the plate passes through the press; the result is a convex area on the surface of the print that is devoid of ink. In Warriors Hayter uses the scorper to create greater emphasis on the weapons—they emerge in relief, and further emphasize and dramatize the conflict portrayed.
Label copy from exhibition "Dreamscapes: The Surrealist Impulse," August 22 - October 25, 1998