TODAY I GOT UP is the latest iteration of my ongoing project, RESIDUAL INK DRAWINGS, a series that utilizes reclaimed ink from empty ink jet cartridges.

In the monthly series, a tally mark is hand painted with black ink each day the main headline appears in all caps and exceeds 30 points and in red when it exceeds 36 points. If neither occurs, no mark is made.

The second part of this work examines a week of headlines. Using the same criteria, I select two words from each headline and place on a page creating a sort of concrete poetry. The ink bleeds and soaks through the paper rendering the words, at times, unreadable.

The ink in both cases is applied from the rear (uncoated) side of photo rag paper. The coated side resists the ink when applied in this manner and exhibits a blurred trace of the mark. For me this application mimics and visualizes how our daily experiences are layered, absorbed and stored within as we wait for the future to arrive.

How news is told and sold has been a long- standing interest of mine. I find as I move through these difficult times that I often feel saturated by the data and statics that pour over me day after day. As one day blurs into the next, comprehension often seems just beyond my grasp.

This project pays homage to the seminal works of On Kawara, “Today” and “I Got Up”. These works affirmed his own existence and in return, ours. It is my hope that this series might offer similar reflections.

The monthly series covers the time period of November 2016 through January 2021. There are 51 prints. The weekly series covers the dates of November 19, 2019 through January 21, 2021 and there are 58 prints.

"Today I Got Up" was recently named as a Top Ten 2021 Finalists in the 95th Annual at The Print Center by David Campany and Larissa Goldston.

RITA MAAS

RITA MAAS