Brenda Stumpf "Validus"

Hi, my name is Brenda Stumpf. I am originally from Parma, Ohio, and I've lived near Denver, Colorado for several years. One of my practices is pigment transfers, in which I print reverse image segments of my photographs and then transfer each segment with a gel medium onto a substrate. And in this case, it's a painted wood panel. Once everything dries, the paper is wetted and removed, which reveals the ink that's been transferred to the surface. The title of my piece is Validus, which is Latin for strong. It's part of a series titled through Salt and Ash, and that body of work reflects on endurance and transformation. I created this piece after spending time in the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. I love walking among those towering rock formations. Their presence feels ancient and knowing. able to hold what I was shedding at the time and return it, changed and almost like alchemized. And with that application on the surface of that reactive iron paint, I feel like I invited time, oxidation and elemental decay to become part of the image itself, and the resulting surface feels aged and alive, echoing how strengths can emerge quietly through weathering and surrender.