Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by June Wayne. It dates from 2009 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Untitled is a 2009 digital print by June Wayne, part of a portfolio of nineteen works that combine digital processes with traditional print techniques. It was produced using digital tools to simulate gestural chaos, then printed as a lithograph. The piece is held in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, reflecting Wayne’s late-career engagement with hybrid media and atmospheric abstraction.
Subject & Meaning
The image evokes a turbulent sky, with dense, jagged black-and-white strokes dominating the upper half, suggesting violent motion or atmospheric disturbance.
The image evokes a turbulent sky, with dense, jagged black-and-white strokes dominating the upper half, suggesting violent motion or atmospheric disturbance. A thin, bright horizontal line cuts across the middle, offering a momentary rupture before the lower section dissolves into textured gray. The composition resists literal interpretation, instead conveying a sense of elemental force and transient order.
Technique & Style
Wayne employed digital software to generate the swirling, layered marks, then translated them into a lithographic print. Subtle additions—hand coloring, gold dusting, and pochoir—were applied to select prints in the series, though this version remains primarily lithographic. The result mimics the spontaneity of brushwork while retaining the precision of printmaking, blending digital control with tactile texture.
History & Provenance
Created in 2009, Untitled belongs to a late portfolio that marked Wayne’s exploration of digital technology after decades in traditional printmaking. The work entered The Museum of Modern Art’s collection shortly after its production, part of a broader institutional recognition of her innovative fusion of analog and digital methods in the final years of her career.
Context
Wayne, known for founding the Tamarind Lithography Workshop, spent her later years experimenting with digital tools to expand the possibilities of print. This work emerged amid a broader shift in the art world toward hybrid media, where artists blended analog craftsmanship with new technologies. Her approach challenged distinctions between old and new techniques, positioning printmaking as dynamically evolving.
Legacy
Untitled exemplifies Wayne’s enduring commitment to pushing printmaking’s boundaries. By integrating digital processes into a medium historically rooted in stone and ink, she expanded its expressive range. Her late work influenced subsequent generations of printmakers to embrace technology not as a replacement, but as a collaborator in artistic exploration.
Artist & collection
Artist
June Claire Wayne was an American painter, printmaker, tapestry innovator, educator, and activist. She founded Tamarind Lithography Workshop (1960–1970), a then California-based nonprofit print shop dedicated to lithography.
