Cecil Day’s prints Underfoot: Beach Peas and Plantain were created as part of her Underfoot series, consisting of paired works, each with one linocut and one etching. These works are framed in a downward facing perspective, towards fields and grounds filled with a rich array of beach peas and plantain. Side by side, this series consciously displays two printmaking techniques to make visible the artist’s appreciation for each medium. We are invited to experience the rich diversity of textures within the works, as if re-visiting the same location multiple times – with each return carrying its own unique feeling, tone and memory.
“These prints show an intimate landscape, the kind one perceives underfoot, like a carpet. I enjoy the patterns and repetitions in the similar forms and try to make textures that you would feel if you were to run your hand over a small patch of undergrowth.”
– Cecil Day
Cecil Day’s prints The Ditch and Cranberries and Pitcher Plants were created as part of her Underfoot series. Each piece depicts a view of the fields and ground beneath, filled with flower petals, grass, moss, leaves, stems and other natural materials. Brimming with an array of shapes and texture, the surface of the works engages the senses. Through this series, Day encourages us to contemplate our relationship with the natural world. How are we physically connected to the earth? How do these relationships contribute to the regeneration of ecosystems we depend on for the regeneration of the earth’s life cycles? The Underfoot series encourages our senses to form a renewed attention to the land which sustains us.
“My prints evolve slowly with many proofings, and often varied editions. Sometimes I print on fabric to make two and three-dimensional hangings. Sometimes I make books. The chance to ‘play’ with the image is part of my pleasure. Although my sources are from nature always, they may be observed or remembered or provoked by conversation or lines in a poem.”
– Cecil Day
About the Artist
Cecil Day grew up in the United States in Portland, Maine, and currently lives in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. She received a BA in painting at Indiana University and an MFA in painting from Washington University. In 1979 she moved to St. John’s, Newfoundland where she began printmaking at St. Michael’s Printshop, where she taught workshops on basic etching from 1985-1993. She continues to teach similar techniques at the Yarmouth Arts Regional Centre. Her work is held in private and public collections including the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Art Bank, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery, Acadia University, Canada Council Art Bank, National Library of Canada, and Harvard University.
The Nova Scotia Spotlight series highlights recent acquisitions to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia’s Permanent Collection by artists contributing to the province’s cultural heritage. With support from Michelin North America (Canada) Inc. and the Donald R. Sobey Family Foundation in Memory of Robert W. M. Manuge.
