Aldea Wood

Printmaker

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Bio


Originally from Bowen Island in British Columbia, Aldea Wood is a printmaking artist who now lives in Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island.


She was first introduced to printmaking through her aunt who imported to Canada etchings from the Gaos family, a group of artist from Mexico.  Aldea was touched by their colourful, playful and unique imagery which still influenced her work to this day. She first explored printmaking while in high school and then studied graphic design and illustration at Capilano University in British Columbia. It is during this period of her life that Aldea discovered the Cape Dorset printmakers, who greatly influenced her work. It is Inuit artists such as Ningeokuluk Teevee  or Kenojuak Ashevak, who she admires for their bold graphic style and the beautiful and original portrayal of Canadian wildlife from.


WHALE INSPIRATIONS


Inspired by Vancouver Island’s landscapes, Aldea’s work revolves around nature inspired themes. Ocean and sea creatures are frequent subject matter in her work and more importantly, the humpback whale.


While studying graphic design, she spent her summers in Haida Gwaii, an archipelago on the Pacific Northwest Coast of British Columbia. It was there she saw a humpback whale for the first time. This life-changing moment would lead the artist to have dreams of herself swimming with the majestic creature. Five years later, just steps from the shores of English Bay in Vancouver, she swam alongside a grey whale and from that moment on, the sea giant would become a source of creative inspiration for her.


PROCESS


Aldea Wood’s favourite medium is linocut block printing, a printmaking technique, similar to woodcut in which the image is carved in relief on a block of linoleum. The first step of this process is to cut a design into a piece of linoleum with sharp knives and chisels. It’s a subtractive process, meaning you cut away, or subtract, the areas you do not want to print. The paper is then laid on top of the inked linoleum surface to be hand-pressed. All the raised areas on the linoleum block hold the ink and those become the coloured areas of the image. All of Aldea’s prints are printed by hand on archival quality, acid-free 100% cotton papers.