Detritus by Thomas Norulak opens Friday @ 709

Detritus, a solo show by Thomas Norulak, opens this Friday, November 25, at 709 Penn Gallery. (Reception 6-8 p.m.)

Root Cluster, Thomas Norulak, etching

In Detritus, printmaker Thomas Norulak finds beauty in objects that have been altered over time by their interaction with the elements.

Subjects include rocks and debris along riverbanks and hiking trails, an uprooted tree trunk, an abandoned truck tire, machinery rusting in the woods, and a dead fish washed up on the shores of Lake Erie.

As nature has transformed these objects over time, Norulak’s studio process is also transformative. “I start by taking photographs of these phenomena, and use the following process to transform them into black and white etchings: Laser prints of the photographic imagery are transferred onto a zinc plate with a solvent, and then etched in nitric acid. Using traditional printmaking techniques such as aquatint, open bites, scraping and burnishing, the images acquire abstract or surreal qualities, bearing little resemblance to the original photographs.”