ALARM CEASE REPAIR PEPEAT
The majority of these handshake images were drawn and etched from printed sources. They include hands from an early 19th century James Gillray etching depicting a “Union Club” to gestures found in engravings from the Civil War and the Afghan Wars from that same time period. They also include a couple stock images from contemporary sources, but most depict exchanges of power throughout history. I utilized a progressive etching process similar to several of my other projects, where I draw, etch and print an image and then physically scrape away most of that handshake, before repeating the process for the next handshake. The result is that the record of each handshake is partially left behind on the plate. I am interested in the building up and taking away of this gesture and its meaning in relationship to promises and agreements.