Crenellation: Surface with a notched outline, as in a parapet or battlement.
Existentialism: Twentieth-century philosophical movement emphasizing the individual’s isolation in an unknowable universe; the individual is believed to assume full responsibility for, and accept the consequences of, his or her actions.
Facade: Front or face of a building.
Found object: Object not originally designed to have artistic value that the artist selects and displays as a work of art.
Freestanding: Standing independent of a support.
Galvanize: Treat or coat with zinc.
Golden Mean: System of ideal proportion developed by the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid. In this system, a line is divided into two parts; the smaller line has the same proportion (ratio) to the entire line as does the larger line. This is expressed mathematically as the ratio 1 to 1.6 or 1:1.6.
Irony: Use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning.
Kamikaze: Japanese air attack pilot in World War II assigned to make a suicide crash on a target such as a ship.
Linoleum-cut print: Print made from the relief process. Instead of wood, a piece of linoleum serves as the printing surface, and a sharp tool is employed to cut away the areas that will not be inked; i.e., the raised surface is the design that will be inked and imprinted on the paper.
Lithography: Method of printmaking in which the artist draws the design on a stone with a greasy crayon. The stone is dampened, and then inked. Because oil and water naturally repel one another, only the parts drawn with the greasy crayon hold the ink. Paper is then applied to the stone and run through a printing press.
Marquetry: Material such as wood inlaid into a wood surface in an intricate design for decorative purposes.
Medium: Technique used by the artist.
Paradox: Something with apparently contradictory features.
Printmaking: Art process that involves the creation of multiple originals from a surface prepared by an artist or made under an artist’s supervision. The printed surface is often paper.
Relief printing: Method of printing in which the artist cuts away nonessential portions of the surface so that the design is raised from a background. The surface is inked, but only the raised portions are imprinted on the paper when pressure is applied. Relief prints may be made from wood blocks; these are called woodcuts. Relief prints made from linoleum blocks are designated linoleum (or lino) cut prints.
Symbol: Something that represents an object or idea, either by association or by convention.
Woodcut print: Print made from the relief printing process, in which the artist cuts away parts of a wood block, leaving a raised surface that will be inked and printed onto paper.