Yizhak Elyashiv

The Artists' Development Fund of Rhode Island Foundation has enabled curators to purchase works by artists living and/or working in Rhode Island. Elyashiv is an exciting contemporary artist who pushes the limits of printmaking by producing works of large size that are experimental in nature and innovative in technique. To create Handful of Grain Map, the artist placed 60 steel plates on his studio floor. He tossed a handful of wheat grain across the plates, marking the place where each grain landed with an ink marker. He next incised the grain marks with a special tool resembling the shape of grain, which he fashioned for this purpose. Using a drypoint needle, he drew lines between the grain marks to form sections with triangles. Elyashiv measured the distance between each grain and stamped each distance on the "map." A table of measurements was tabulated and added to indicate the ideal distribution for planting grain. The plates were sprayed with water and allowed to rust. An unpigmented ink was rolled onto the plates to print the rusted areas using an etching press. The artist's approach to understanding the idea of randomness captured the imagination of the RISD Continuing Education students during a course Elyashiv taught.