Bluerpint No. 11
2020-2025
Dry pastel frottage on Hahnemühle Paper made from the texture of the following image.
25" x 19"

PROCESS IS BACKWARDS: The architectural detail transforms through several stages as it returns to the red substrate seen while scrolling down. This 'Blueprint' is twice removed from the building.

DETAIL
'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 24 + 40'
2020-2023
stitched with wool, red pigment, iodine, frottage on Masa Paper

Raised texture is used as a surface from which to make rubbings. This is how all 'Blueprints' are made.

'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 24 + 40'
2020-2023
stitched with wool, red pigment, iodine, frottage on Masa Paper
30" x 20"

Original backside of paper. I have been working on both sides of the paper for over 10 years. The stitch follows the red carbon frottage lines of the architectural detail on the flipped side.

Photo by Dario Lasagni

2020-2023
red carbon frottage (reverse side) stitched with wool, iodine, cut and reassembled, pastel, stain remover, espresso, beet juice, watercolor
30" x 20"

Photo by Dario Lasagni

DETAIL
2020-2023
red carbon frottage (reverse side) stitched with wool, iodine, cut and reassembled, pastel, stain remover, espresso, beet juice, watercolor
30" x 20"

Architectural detail with only traces of the pattern blends into the background.

Photo by Dario Lasagni

'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 7, 24, 40, 48'
2020-2023
layered red carbon frottage covered in gouache and gum arabic, espresso, iodine, cut and reassembled, stitched with wool, ink, pencil, red pigment, oil/ dry pastel, traces of pajama element through BEVA film
30" x 20"

Photo by Dario Lasagni

DETAIL
'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 7, 24, 40, 48'
2020-2023
layered red carbon frottage covered in gouache and gum arabic, espresso, iodine, cut and reassembled, stitched with wool, ink, pencil, red pigment, oil/ dry pastel, traces of pajama element through BEVA film

25" x 19"

'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 17, 80'
2020-2023
Shoji Japanese Ricepaper, red carbon paper frottage, gouache and gum Arabic, acrylic, espresso, wax pastel, ink, graphite, iodine mixed with pigment
36" x 24"

photo by Dario Lasagni

DETAIL
'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 17, 80,'
Shoji Japanese Ricepaper, red carbon paper frottage, gouache and gum Arabic, acrylic, espresso, wax pastel, ink, graphite, iodine mixed with pigment
2020-2023

Photo by Dario Lasagni

'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 38, 39'
2020

Photo by Dario Lasagni

DETAIL
'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 38, 39'
2020
'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 107, 108'
2020-2022
layered red carbon paper frottages on gouache treated on espresso and ink stained Shoji paper
36" x 24"

Photo by Dario Lasagni

DETAIL
How Do You Restructure? Form Nos. 107, 108'
layered red carbon paper frottages on gouache treated on espresso and ink stained Shoji paper
36" x 24"

Photo by Dario Lasagni

How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 100 (upper) / 16, 46, 55 (base)
2020-2023
Silberburg B. Handmade paper, red carbon paper frottage, ink, acrylic, acrylic and gum Arabic, gel roller, black textile dye, marker, espresso, gouache, pastel, cut and reassembled
38" x 25"

Photo by Dario Lasagni

DETAIL
How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 100 (upper) / 16, 46, 55 (base)
Silberburg B. Handmade paper, red carbon paper frottage, ink, acrylic, acrylic and gum Arabic, gel roller, black textile dye, marker, espresso, gouache, pastel, cut and reassembled
38" x 25"

Photo by Dario Lasagni

'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 49, 90'
2020-2023
38" x 25"

Photo by Dario Lasagni

This was the original back. The bleed of ink came through from the front side.

DETAIL
'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 49, 90'
'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 68, 69'
2020
concealed layered red carbon frottage marks on espresso stained Silberburg Paper, with acrylic, ink, pastel
38" x 25"

Photo Documentation by Leonhard Hilzensauer

'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 68, 69' DETAIL
2020
concealed layered red carbon frottage marks on espresso stained Silberburg Paper, with acrylic, ink, pastel
38" x 25"

Photo Documentation by Leonhard Hilzensauer

'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 30, 42, 94, 95'
2020
layered red carbon frottages on acrylic treated Silberburg Paper, watercolor, white pencil
38" x 25"

Photo by Dario Lasagni

DETAIL
'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 30, 42, 94, 95'
layered red carbon frottages on acrylic treated Silberburg Paper, watercolor, white pencil
38" x 25"

Photo by Dario Lasagni

'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 134, 152'
DETAIL
'How Do You Restructure Form? Nos. 134, 152,'
'How Do You Restructure Form? No. 13'
2020
Red carbon paper frottage on Silberburg B. Handmade paper, acrylic, ink and gum arabic
38" x 25"

During the frottage process, paper was always placed horizontally along the building’s footprint. The upper half of the paper would receive the rubbed impression of exterior architectural details while its bottom half would receive the rubbed impression from the corresponding ground.


Photo Documentation by Leonhard Hilzensauer

In process: red carbon paper is between the paper and the exterior of the Palais Equitable. The red surface is turned towards the paper so it may pick up rubbed marks.
2020
The process of frottage using red carbon paper on the architectural detail of the Palais Equitable.. Even the police came to watch.
2020
My 4 month–long ritual at dawn making frottages of the Palais Equitable's footprint, or rather, Vienna's Mythical Center.
2020
Towards the end of the 19th Century, the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States was the most successful in the world.
LEFT Photo: The headquarters of the 'Equitable Life Building' in New York City was completed in 1870.
RIGHT Photo: The address of the Palais Equitable Building in Vienna belongs to the most exclusive ones in all of Austria. It was completed for the American Company in 1891.
The late Nineteenth Century, American built, Palais Equitable, has a complex history that embodies the Mythical Center of Vienna, Austria. The presence of a nail-tree talisman (aka ‘Der Stock im Eisen’)—Vienna’s oldest landmark from the Middle Ages—is located in one of its exterior corners.


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All images and writing copyright Nicola Ginzel, 2010-2025

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