A woodblock print with Chine-collé, bARBER’s I Am yours, builds on his penchant for color- and texture-driven collage in mixed media. Primarily a painter, bARBER describes this still life of flowers as an expression of self-love. Here glyphs, which recur in his practice, obscure the deeply personal letter that grounds the 15-color relief print.

A resurgence of flowers as subject matter in contemporary art was recently described by critic Amanda Fortini as “slyly radical.” In this way, I Am yours serves a dual purpose for the artist—it is a message to a loved one and a positive affirmation to oneself. The artist draws inspiration from various sources, including Japanese and Chinese prints, Botero, Jacob Lawrence, and memories of watching his mother talk to and tend plants as a child. The resulting wood-block print is distinctly his, mobilizing what the artist understands to be “cosmic love through positive vibration.” As viewers, we understand flowers– here set in a vase against the artist’s glyphs– as timeless and unfixed vessels for meaning.

In 2020, bARBER was awarded an Artist Research Fellowship at Sam Fox Island Press. I Am yours is his second published print.