Aida and the Mirror, c.1991, Selma Bortner, (b. 1926), Linoleum print, H. 30 x W. 36 inches, James A. Michener Art Museum, Purchased with funds provided by an anonymous donor from the Bucks Biennial I Exhibition.
Selma Bortner used linoleum to create this print. In the process of creating the print, the image is first carved into a linoleum plate, and then it is inked with a brayer. Paper is placed on top of the plate, and the plate and paper are passed through a printmaking press, resulting in the image. Read More
Symbols and Storytelling in Art
Selma Bortner created this print around the time her husband had surgery on his heart. Have you ever had a time where someone close to you was sick? This was a difficult time for her and she worried about her husband and his health.
She created this artwork using symbols to show her experience with her husband’s illness and how she had to take care of him. She shows a portrait of herself holding her husband on a boat. They are surrounded by animals and other human like figures.
She compared this experience of caring for her husband during his illness to a “journey”. What is a journey? Have you taken an important journey before? How do you think she is showing a journey in her artwork? Read More »