‘Wood Engraver’s Tower’ Print by Anne Desmet RA

Wood engraving on Japanese Gampi Vellum paper. From an edition of 45.

Anne Desmet RA specializes in wood engraving, linocut, lithography and collage. Her subject matter pulls in two directions: one essentially topographical/architectural yet with buildings subject to metamorphoses relating to changing light, weather and the passage of time; the other concerned with intuitive architectural fantasies and epic urban myths/histories of destruction and regeneration such as the biblical Tower of Babel. Desmet aims to evoke both the timeless solidity of historic architectural structures and their impermanence and vulnerability. Her complex, highly detailed images are imbued with wry humour about the hubris and potential folly of unchecked human ambition.