This piece is the result of ongoing “Lego Letterpress” experiments. The Lego baseplate and a variety of geometric “flat tile" pieces provide the letterpress print artist with an odd yet playful range of form possibilities. While largely free of type or text reference, they acknowledge the visual richness often seen in specimen pages of decorative letterpress borders. As print artist, I aim not toward a predictable outcome, but rather engage with a process where results continually surprise and challenge me. I usually give my “form-work” some rule or formal constraints, then print each color pass 2, 4, or even 8 times, rotating the square sheet 90 degrees and also flipping it to print on the reverse for each color run. This efficient (or somewhat lazy) approach allows chance arrangements, or at least the unexpected, to play a role in the creation of the work. I often experiment with papers for varying effects, and the back-printed vellum offers a mirroring symmetry and gauzy subtle color effects from just 3 semi-process tints. The resulting 4-way rotational symmetry creates various levels of orderliness and color blending, while developing optical complexity and suggesting both familiar and yet unknown structures.

Lego Letterpress printed recto-verso on vellum

Mike Sonnichsen