Peter Linde Busk | Monotypes

The botanical category of the Solanaceae (Nightshades) comprises a highly diverse group of plants. Some look inconspicuous, others flower magnificently; some are edible herbs known for their medicinal qualities, while others are extremely poisonous. Their appearance can belie their effect – the most beautiful plants can be the most dangerous.

Similarly, Peter Linde Busk’s series of monotypes titled Natskygger / Nightshades conveys a wide range of individual aesthetic expressions and atmospheres, linked strategically with recurring pictorial elements throughout the series, which hint at an overarching narrative without ever proposing a specific reading.

The ability to simultaneously work with the concepts of uniqueness and seriality testifies to Busk’s decades of experience with printmaking. It is this familiarity with the medium that allows him to embrace another inherent advantage of printmaking: the act of collaboration: ‘Working with master printer Mette Ulstrup was a genuine dialogue, and our collaboration was both playful and experimental. In printmaking you must trust the process, it is impossible to intellectually think yourself towards the final result.’ Paradoxically, it is his deep knowledge of the print medium which allowed Busk not to rely on previous experience, but to turn the unpredictable encounter between printing plate and paper into the project’s conceptual backbone.

I think of the monotypes as illustrations of a mysterious, unknown story that has either been lost or has not yet been written.

– Peter Linde Busk