K L E A M c K E N N A | Intaglio Prints | 2023 - Present
Intaglio print. Oil-based ink on rag-paper
McKenna’s latest work synthesizes a decade of innovative techniques, integrating intaglio printing into her image-making process to create a distinctive hybrid approach. While this series moves further from traditional photography, it remains deeply connected to its principles—particularly its complex relationship with detail, truth, and the real, shaped by the medium’s intricate history. McKenna employs these methods to depict semi-abstract, figurative beings that exist in a compelling tension between concrete evidence and speculative fantasy.
These intaglio prints, in which the tabs, flaps, and perforations of cardboard and textile materials become unexpected orifices and protrusions, evoke an aesthetic that fuses archeological artifacts with the die-cut curves of mass production. By inking and pressing these materials onto an etching plate, McKenna captures an index of corporeal forms, rendering them as effigies—transforming everyday objects into evocative, newly imagined artifacts.
