Reduction linoleum print on paper, edition of 22, 9" x 12" image size, 14" x 17" sheet size

Susan Jaworski-Stranc works with reduction linoleum printing. This printmaking technique uses just one block of linoleum to create different layers of color. This is also referred to as "suicide printing" because with each layer, as more of the block is carved away, once that layer is printed and carving has begun for the next layer, there’s no going back. She currently maintains a studio in Lowell, Massachusetts and lives in Newburyport.

I am a printmaker, specializing in the creation of linoleum block prints. After each successive printing of a color, the surface of the block is reduced while at the same time the printing surface is built up with multi-layered colors. Born from one block of linoleum, my relief prints have the nuance and rich textural surfaces of an oil painting.

Although Picasso coined this method of working a "suicide print," I rather think of this printmaking process as emulating the journey of life. While creating my prints, I am never able to re-visit past stages. I can only proceed forward with the acceptance of all good and not so good choices which were mediated and acted upon with the hope and joy of completion.