Raj’s New Print Odyssey

Introduction

I hope some of my Art I See readers will remember my post on Raj Bunnag (13 Jan. 2013) and his four-sheet linoleum print Out Of The Jungle It Came. http://www.scottponemone.com/rajs-jungle-a-linocut-that-goes-round-and-round/  I first saw his print floating above his head at the Maryland Institute College of Art’s holiday sale of student and alumni art and crafts. (See below)
 

 
Photo by Scott Ponemone
 
That meeting resulted in our trading his magical print for a watercolor of mine as well as the aforementioned blog post.  For the blog we did an interview via email.  The last question I had put to him was: What comes next? His answer:
 
I am currently working on a series of linocuts about the global drug war, using Francisco de Goya’s Disasters of War series as the jump off point. The sad thing is as far as we have come since his time, our missteps and tragedies are still very similar. Capturing the global causes and effects of drugs should keep me busy for a while since it is the modern atrocity effecting us all.
 
His new series is slowly taking shape, and Raj has graciously sent me images of his one finished print, preparatory drawings for that block, details of the cut linoleum, details of the print and preparatory drawings for his second block.
 
He is currently on the staff on Supergraphic  (http://durhamsupergraphic.com/about/ ) in Durham, NC, as printmaking specialist. The Supergraphic staff page says, “Raj recently finished working as the head printer at AdSpice in Durham, NC. While there he printed thousands and thousands of shirts – that’s some serious screenprinting chops!”
 
(I should note that Brian Garner, who was the subject of another Art I See post( http://www.scottponemone.com/collaborators/), has moved his Litho Shop from Baltimore to join Supergraphic. “Our good friend and director of Litho Shop, Brian Garner has decided to relocate to North Carolina and he’ll be moving his whole operation into our space,” says the Supergraphic website. “We’ll continue to be called Supergraphic and Brian will be supervising all production and shop activities.”  Brian recently completed a successful Kickstarter fundraiser to pay for the moving of Litho Shop equipment to Durham.)
 

 
This image and all the following are courtesy of the artist.
 
 

Druggernaughts

 
On December 11, 2014, Raj first emailed me with the above image and said: “My newest series is coming along nicely. I just recently finished the first block in this massive series I have planned about the war on drugs I mentioned in the end of the interview. The second block is being drawn and carved as we speak.”
 
Then on December 19 came three emails. The first one offered images of this block’s preparatory drawings.  The second email had images of the linoleum block partly cut. And the third email offered drawings for the second block.  Accompanying the images, Raj wrote:
 
“This block (titled The Murder Cartel Deathride) is the first block/title block for my current series, March of the Druggernaughts: Fantastical Manifestations of the War on Drugs. Its dimensions are 36″ x 18″. The second block I am working on is 34″ x 18″, and I am thinking of changing some of the sizes of the other ones I have planned. I have 10 sketches at the moment and many ideas floating around in my head still for others. I have surrendered to the fact that this will take multiple years to come to fruition, but I am ready for this print journey. I will be sending you some photos of progress shots of my most recent one as well as details of the finished print. Hope everything is well in Baltimore. Also here is a video of me printing it at the print shop I am a part of Supergraphic.” The video he mentioned can be seen at: http://vimeo.com/106449902

Preliminary drawings for The Murder Cartel Deathride

Cutting the linoleum and details of the cut block

The Murder Cartel Deathride and details

Drawings for the second block: Opium Abomination

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