Helices I – VI are six drypoint intaglios, each with the same plate size of 21″ x 6″ inches and printed in an editions of 8 on 31 ½” x 12″ Lanaquarelle 300g HP watercolor paper.
Each of the Helices consists of a central accumulation of wave-like drypoint lines, dividing the plate symmetrically along the vertical axis. This aggregation of wave-lines creates the dark vertical center of each of the Helices. These lines are coherent, similar, or complementary to each other. The resulting vertical shape, centered on the sheet, indicates a kind of rhythm, harmony, and/or pitch.
Working and proofing the Helices plates started in 2003 but the project was shelved because a suitable paper could not be found. In 2011 the artist was commissioned to create a print edition at Manneken Press to benefit the Chinati Foundation. This project, titled Aphros, a drypoint printed on heavy watercolor paper, inspired the revival of the Helices project. After the artist revisited and signficantly re-worked several of the plates, they were finally printed with beautiful results on a similar paper. Thus, the Helices prints are dated 2003 – 11.