Suicide and Relief Prints

To create his original prints, McCaskill systematically destroys the woodblock that produced them. This reductive method of printmaking is sometimes called “suicide” or “waste-block” printing and involves using a single block of wood or linoleum. After each color is printed the block is carved to eliminate the color from being reprinted. This process continues until only the last color remains and the block is destroyed.

Due to the extreme reduction of the woodblock through the printing process, it is impossible to undo any mistakes, making each decision, cut or print final. This ensures that each original work of art is truly one of a kind and impossible to replicate.