Untitled (Various Small Destructions)
ca. 2019
Acetate, laser copy transfer, gouache
9 x 12 in.
© QAYSI
2024-02-17 Post Drawing
2005 India Photographs
Again and Again
2023
Oil on canvas
12 x 16 in. (30.48 x 40.64 cm)
Material Color
2023
Oil on canvas
16 x 12 in. (40.64 x 30.48 cm)
2023
Oil and charcoal on canvas mounted on panel
16 x 12 in. (40.64 x 30.48 cm)
Achieving the ideal paint consistency can be challenging due to various factors: the type of oil, pigment concentration, temperature, humidity, methods of mixing, dilution, and the painting surface. If oil paint isn’t used within a week, it can develop a skin, leading to additional complications.
Framing Color
2023
Oil and charcoal on linen mounted on panel
18 x 14 in. (45.72 x 35.56 cm)
I had been working on this piece, not entirely sure of its direction, but I kept adding elements. I started on canvas, then mounted it on a hardboard that I had previously used for another project. At some point, I might have scraped it, and today, I finalized the painting.
Prepping Work
2023
Oil and charcoal on canvas
16 x 12 in. (40.64 x 30.48 cm)
Preparing new series of paintings.
Oil on Paper with Manhattan Bridge
2022
Oil and charcoal on Arches oil paper
30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.88 cm)
2022
Oil and charcoal on Arches oil paper
30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.88 cm)
Drawing as Becoming Other than One is
These are recent drawings in which I traced different parts of my hand or arm without looking, hence ‘blind drawings’. However, the first drawing includes an erasure and was not done entirely without looking.
“Writing in order to have no face” or “Writing in order to become other than one is,” from “The Lives of Michel Foucault” by David Macey, could also be interpreted as “drawing in order to have no face, becoming other than one is.”
Oil on Paper with One Leg
Morning Light in the Studio
Postcard Painting
I’m working on smaller, postcard-sized paintings. Instead of being overly concerned about my intentions in creating them, I’m guided by the desire to stay productive, especially during times when I’m not particularly active in the studio.
2021
Oil, charcoal and collage on paper and canvas mounted on panel
2021
Oil on photograph mounted in on panel
7 x 5 in. (17.78 x 12.7 cm)
Untitled (after Halloween)
Untitled (after Halloween)
2020
Oil and charcoal on canvas
60 x 72 in.
_________________________
© QAYSI. All rights reserved.
[062146 FEB 18 #misprintstate]
I made this almost a year ago, one of the first few ‘Misprints’ where I taped parts of it and drew over the print with graphite on wet ink.
© QAYSI. All rights reserved.
drawing over photo transfers
2018
Acrylic pigmented inkjet print transfer, charcoal, and oil on paper
33 1/2 x 44 in. (85.09 x 111.76 cm)
This drawing is part of an ongoing series titled “after Baghdad family photo”. The photos I have are copies of the original photos we haphazard thrown in our suitcases before leaving Baghdad in 1973. A date on a few delicate ones is as far back as 1930.
I’m perplexed by these family photos, because even when I was old enough to remember the events within my lifetime, I had no memories of the specific event. There is a fantasy, a story around the photo that had little or no bearing on the actual event. An uncomfortable disconnect with the photo always persisted, and grew even worse as I tried to sort out my memories of the photos and their relationship to the actual event. I only had the photo and whatever fantasy I wanted to impose on them.
I’ve played around the photos, taking them through various mediums to see what might come out of the process. In this drawing, I had scanned and copped a section of the photo and made four pigmented inkjet prints which I transferred to paper using acrylic medium. Followed by various random underdrawings in graphite and charcoal, and painted over with acrylic and oil using a projector. That’s the process in a nutshell.
© QAYSI. All rights reserved.
State: Oil painting
I’ve taken a break from social media since last year, only writing one post a week here to share my studio work’s progress. Recently, I’ve been updating my website with WordPress, using a simple template to showcase my work. I’m excited about the drawings and paintings I began last year. My studio focus has shifted from a preoccupation with technology and creatively misusing inkjet printers in my Misprint project to working with traditional materials like oil and acrylic paint, charcoal, shellac, and graphite on paper and canvas. Painting again is a joy, blending digital techniques with traditional painting in new ways.
© QAYSI. All rights reserved.
photogravure misprints
2016
Photoengraving on Hahnemühle paper
Photopolymer plate (two per sheet): each 16-7/8 x 23-5/8 inches
Sheet: 22-1/4 x 30-3/4 inches
Publisher: Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT
Printer: Plates prepared by artist and Paul DeRuvo
Source images are from Misprints documentation, tagged as #misprintstate, previously existing solely as digital photos. I’m able to transform these into physical prints through the process of copper plates, film, acid baths, and diverse inking techniques, thus recycling the Misprints states via printmaking.
© QAYSI. All rights reserved.
[012317 FEB 16 #misprintstate]
For the past two months, I’ve developed several Misprints, pushing the process to its limits and often destroying the print. Now, I only have photo documentation of the process, labeled as #misprintstate. Additionally, using a modified inkjet printer on a geared flatbed enables multiple passes on the same aluminum plate with the same source photograph, resulting in much darker prints. The aluminum plate also allows sanding down and reworking various parts of the surface for the final print.
© QAYSI. All rights reserved.
[112306 DEC 15 #misprintstate]
2015
Source image: Mosul, Iraq. February 26, 2014.
I’ve added “state” to the title of certain misprints to document their various stages. This term, borrowed from traditional printmaking, indicates a specific stage of the plate. Another concept introduced into my process is “matrix,” which traditionally refers to the substrate—like a plate or woodblock—in printmaking that yields multiple prints. In the Misprints project, this concept is nuanced and inverted: the inkjet printer, typically used for producing identical prints, is altered to create a unique monoprint.
© QAYSI. All rights reserved.
Bodrum, Turkey #misprintstate
2015
I’ve sanded down and reworked this Misprint state. The use of 1/4 inch aluminum plates has introduced new challenges, making it difficult to predict the final print’s appearance. However, this uncertainty, especially with the modified inkjet printer, adds an intriguing and unpredictable element to the process.
© QAYSI. All rights reserved.
Misprints: An Interview with Paul Qaysi – Jadaliyya
Misprints: An Interview with Paul Qaysi – Jadaliyya
November 1, 2015
by Dena Al-Adeeb
2014
Pigmented inkjet monoprint on vellum film, gum arabic, and acrylic medium
16 x 20 in.
© QAYSI. All rights reserved.