herbarium

Herbarium depicts crystallized images of species that have invaded the Danish flora. Converted into intaglio prints, they take on an almost ghostly appearance, like fossils disconnected from time and space.

We are pleased to present three intaglio prints by Nicolai Howalt, one of Denmark’s foremost artists in the medium of photography. Because it is primarily through the camera lens that Howalt explores the world. His work encompasses documentary, conceptual and installation art, always using photography as a medium.

Herbarium II and III

In Herbarium, Howalt has collaborated with the intaglio printing experts at Printers’ proof in Copenhagen, who have combined the latest technology in UV printing with traditional intaglio printing processes.

Each print is a crystallized image of plant specimens that have invaded the Danish flora over the centuries. However, the artworks do not appear as dried plants mounted on paper. In the printing process, Printers’ proof has used metal pigments, which gives the images a completely different status and brings to mind fossils; traces of a bygone geological era.

Each print captures the fragility of the dried original plant, while the transparency of the pelats against the cold hues of the metal inks make them appear almost ghostly on the paper. Even with the meticulous scientific notation in the margins, these seem disconnected from time and space.