Frottage Prints, 1995

Mixed media. Frottage on paper from incised plaster and linoleum forms, graphite, chalk, tempera, watercolor – various sizes

The Frottage Prints series represents an experimental and interdisciplinary chapter within Bónyai Barbara’s Tardigrades cycle, exploring the boundaries of corporeal and identity representation through a complex dialogue between incised forms and frottage prints. Comprising three distinct yet interconnected works – Casus Peccati (The Fall), Scratched Faces, and Figure Abstractions – the series unfolds the materiality of the body alongside its symbolic dimensions through unique technical approaches and rich iconography.

Casus Peccati centers on frottage impressions and painted overlay of an archaic, genderless figure incised into plaster plate, indirectly revealing the body’s imprint and the layered meanings tied to personal identity. A pivotal moment within the series is the application of green earth tempera to depict a vintage bathing suit, which overlays a cultural context and introduces new dimensions to the originally raw body, thus thematizing the liminal space between corporeality and representation.

The Scratched Faces series likewise employs frottage prints derived from incised plaster forms, portraying three grotesque, stylized heads rendered through an expressive interplay of graphite and red chalk. This body of work interrogates the fragmentation of identity and the complexity of selfhood, while the frottage technique conjures an intimate duality of presence and corporeal trace.

In the Figure Abstractions series, Bónyai utilizes frottage of linoleum cuts to radically abstract bodily forms into a network of expressive lines. The three distorted figures are set against backgrounds painted in broken hues of red, yellow, and green watercolor – not only emphasizing the shapes but also evoking the symbolic interplay of body and space, as well as emotional and spiritual energies. This series presents a lyrical transformation of the body and an unraveling of identity, all while maintaining the raw, grotesque power inherent in corporeality.

Overall, the Frottage Prints series meditates on themes of body, presence, and identity, employing the indirect yet immediate gestures of incision and frottage to create a layered visual and conceptual palimpsest of corporeal imprint. The works simultaneously embody raw materiality and rich symbolic meaning, preserving the archaic and timeless atmosphere characteristic of the Tardigrades cycle.